Pupi Avati

Pupi Avati is a director and film producer, born in Bologna on 3^rd November 1938. After a first period of activity in which Avati explored various genres without forgetting the atmospheres of his region, the autobiographical element became essential, with memory and sentiment playing a dominant role in his cinema; his style was at times surreal and ironic, at times explicitly grotesque. After studying political science at the University of Bologna, Avati performed various jobs and developed a great interest in jazz music.

His debut behind the camera was in 1970 with “Balsamus, The Man of Satan”. The director then explored the so-called ‘cinema di genere’, ranging from horror to noir and from political satire to grotesque, as seen in the films “Thomas… gli indemoniati” (finished in 1970, but released in 1983), “La mazurka del barone, della santa e del fico fiorone” (1975) and “House of Pleasure for Women” (1976); at times he manages to create horrific, dark and claustrophobic atmospheres, as in the case of “The House with Laughing Windows” (1976) and “All Deceased…Except the Dead” (1977), in which elements of irony and sarcasm are also found. In 1976, with his brother Antonio and Gianni Minervini, he founded the production company “AMA Film”, later replaced by “DueA”.

The television works “Jazz Band” (1978) and “Cinema!!!” (1979) were fundamental in his artistic evolution, revealing a more explicit intimist side in the portrayal of ordinary characters and their dreams. In 1979, he directed “Le Strelle nel fosso”, an original work that balances nostalgic evocations, the real world and dreamlike suggestions; in 1981, he directed “Help Me Dream”, an unusual musical set during the Second World War, featuring Mariangela Melato and Anthony Franciosa, in which he blends the American myth with the typical tones of his homeland. He then explored the universe of feelings, constantly searching for lost emotions.  We see a delicate and melancholic touch in his following films: “Una gita scolastica” (1983), “The Three of Us” (1984), “Impiegati” and “Graduation Party” (both released in 1985); “Christmas Present” (1986), “The Last Minute” (1987), “The Story of Boys & Girls” (1989). Avati remained true to his unique poetics in the two films he directed in the United States: “Bix” (1991), a subdued portrait of the musician Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke and a tribute to jazz, and “Brothers and Sisters” (1992), about family ties. In “Magnificat” (1993), he evoked the religious Middle Ages while in “The Mysterious Enchanter” (1996), he explored his beloved Gothic and dark atmospheres of the 18^th century; then, after a more intimist interlude (e.g., “The Best Man”, 1998), he plunged into the magical, historical, and adventurous dimension of the Crusader epic in “The Knights of the Quest” (2001). Also worth mentioning are: “Incantato” (2003, David di Donatello award for direction); “Christmas Rematch” (2003); “But When Do the Girls Get Here?” (2004); “The Second Wedding Night” (2005);” A Dinner for Them to Meet” (2007); “The Hideout” (2007); “Giovanna’s Father” (2008);” The Friends at the Margherita Café” (2009);” The Youngest Son” (2010); “A Second Childhood” (2010);” The Big Heart of Girls” (2011).

In 2013, the director published his autobiography “La grande invenzione”; in the same year, he directed the TV series “Un matrimonio”, a reconstruction of the story of a family set against the backdrop of the city of Bologna. In 2014, the exhibition “Pupi Avati. Parenti, amici e altri estranei”, containing over 130 photographs that illustrate the director’s vision, was dedicated to him in Bologna. Here are some of his most recent works that are worth mentioning: the film “A Golden Boy” (2014), for which he also wrote the script; the television film “Il fulgore di Dony” (2017); the films “Lei mi parla ancora” (2021), “La quattordicesima domenica del tempo ordinario” (2023), which he directed and scripted, and “The American Backyard” (2024), which he also directed and wrote. Avati is also the author of the novels ”Il ragazzo in soffitta” (2015), ”Il signor diavolo” (2018) (which inspired him to make a film with the same name), “L’archivio del diavolo” (2020), and of the essay “L’alta fantasia. Il viaggio di Boccaccio alla scoperta di Dante” (2021), which inspired him to make the film “Dante” the following year.