Cesare Zavattini

Cesare Zavattini (1902-1989) was a Italian screenwriter noted for neo-realist films.

Born at Luzzara, near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, on September 20, 1902, Zavattini studied law at the University of Parma, but devoted himself to writing. In 1930 he relocated to Milan, and worked for the book and magazine publisher Angelo Rizzoli. After Rizzoli began producing films in 1934, Zavattini received his first screenplay and story credits in 1936. In 1939, he met Vittorio De Sica, beginning a partnership that produced some two dozen films, including such masterpieces of neo-realism as

• Sciuscià ("Shoe-Shine", 1946]]
• Ladri di biciclette ("The Bicycle Thief", 1948),
• Miracolo a Milano ("Miracle in Milan", 1951), and
• Umberto D (1952).

Among the many celebrated directors of Italian and international cinema Zavattini worked with in his among his more than 80 films are:

• Michelangelo Antonioni,
• Alessandro Blasetti,
• Mauro Bolognini,
• Mario Camerini,
• René Clement,
• Federico Fellini,
• Pietro Germi,
• Alberto Lattuada,
• Mario Monicelli,
• Elio Petri,
• Dino Risi,
• Roberto Rossellini,
• Mario Soldati, and
• Luchino Visconti.

His other notable films include:

• L'oro di Napoli ("The Gold of Naples", 1954)
• La Ciociara ("Two Women", 1960)
• I sequestrati di Altona ("The Condemned of Altona", 1962)
• L'isola di Arturo ("Arturo's Island", 1962)
• Ieri, oggi e domani ("Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", 1963)
• I girasoli ("The Sunflowers", 1970)
• Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini ("The Garden of the Finzi-Continis", 1970)
• Una breve vacanza ("A Brief Vacation", 1973)

Zavattini died at Rome, October 13, 1989.