Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci (March 16, 1941 to November 26, 2018) was an Italian film director regarded as one of the great directors in the history of cinema. He was the first Italian filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director, for The Last Emperor in 1987, a film that swept the Academy Awards with nine wins. His filmmaking career spanned fifty years, from 1962 to 2012, and his work explored politics, sexuality, history, and class conflict with a distinctive visual style. Notable films include Before the Revolution, The Conformist, the controversial Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty, and his final film Me and You in 2012. He received numerous honors including a BAFTA Award, a Cesar Award, two Golden Globes, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and an Honorary Palme d'Or. He died in Rome at age seventy seven from lung cancer.