Italy

Born in Bologna in 1926, Valerio Zurlini is an Italian director and screenwriter, an important yet little-known figure in post-war Italian cinema. After studying law and art history, he turned to cinema, making some fifteen short films between 1948 and 1955. In 1959, he directed Été violent, and the following year, he enjoyed critical and popular success with La Fille à la valise (1960), starring Jacques Perrin and Claudia Cardinale, in one of his first major film roles. In 1962, he reunited with Jacques Perrin, this time accompanied by Marcello Mastroianni, in Diary, which won the Golden Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival. These three films sensitively evoke the outpouring of love and the existential despair of people aware of the sociological and political difficulties in which they live. In 1972, he directed Le Professeur with Lea Massari and Alain Delon, whom he chose again for his film Le Désert des tartares (1976), an ambitious work shot in Iran and featuring an exceptional cast including Vittorio Gassman, Giuliano Gemma, Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ennio Morricone on music. His films, which are often co-produced by France, often feature great French actors such as Delon, Perrin, Trintignant and Anna Karina.