Introduction
Vittorio De Seta (15 October 1923 – 28 November 2011) was an Italian cinema director and screenwriter, considered one of the Italian cinema's great imaginative realists of the 1960s.
Biography
He was born in Palermo, Sicily, to a wealthy family, and studied architecture in Rome, before deciding to become a director.
De Seta made ten short documentaries between 1954 and 1959, before directing his first feature-length film, Banditi a Orgosolo (Bandits of Orgosolo).
His early documentaries focus on the everyday life of many of Sicily's poorest workers, and are notable for their lack of voice-over narration, quiet mood, and striking color.
In 2005 the rediscovery of Vittorio De Seta's work was a highlight of Tribeca Film Festival and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, where Détour De Seta, a documentary on the Italian director was presented.
Filmography
- Banditi a Orgosolo (1961)
- Un uomo a metà (1966)
- L'invitata (1969)
- Diario di un maestro (1972) TV mini-series
- Un anno a Pietralata (1974) TV movie
- In Calabria (1993)
- Lettere dal Sahara (2006)
- articolo 23 (2008) Short
Documentaries
- Vinni lu tempu de li pisci spata, 11', 1955
- Isole di fuoco, 11', 1955
- Sulfarara, 10', 1955
- Pasqua in Sicilia, 11', 1955
- Contadini del mare, 10', 1955
- Parabola d'oro, 10', 1955
- Pescherecci, 11', 1958
- Pastori di Orgosolo, 11', 1958
- Un giorno in Barbagia, 14', 1958
- I dimenticati, 20', 1959
- Dedicato ad Antonino Uccello, 30', 2003
Awards
- 1957. David di Donatello: Targa d'argento.
- 1961. Best First Work in the Venice Film Festival with Banditi a Orgosolo.
- 1962. Silver Ribbon of the Best Cinematography B/W at the Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani (Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists) with Banditi a Orgosolo.