On the opening night, the Mayor of Taormina, Mario Bolognari, handed Ettore Scola the Diamond Award. Two of his films will be shown as a tribute him: "Brutti sporchi e cattivi" and his most recent "Concorrenza sleale". But on the first evening of the TaorminaFilmFest one of his masterpieces, "C'eravamo tanto amati", was screened.

Born in Trevico (Avellino) on May the 10th 1931. Whilst studying law at the University of Rome, he begins his collaboration with the humorous paper Marc'Aurelio. During the fifties he tries his hand at script-writing, frequently alongside Ruggero Maccari; during the following decade he is co-author of Dino Risi's Il Sorpasso (1962) and I mostri (1963), and Antonio Pietrangeli's Io la conoscevo bene (1965). He makes his debut as a film director with Se permettete parliamo di donne (1964), followed, in 1965, by La Congiuntura described as a 'second Opera' due to the inspiring Vittorio Gassman. During the following years he signs renown films such as Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa? (1968), Dramma della gelosia: tutti i particolari in cronaca (1969), Il commissario Pepe (1969), Permettete? Rocco Papaleo (1971), working with all our major actors, from Sordi to Manfredi, from Tognazzi to Mastroianni. After the atypical Trevico-Tonino: viaggi nel Fiat-Nam (1972), a film portraying the conditions of southern worker within the automibile city, he returns to comedy with C'eravamo tanto amati (1974), a touching journey of three friends, revolving around a thirty year period of Italian history, followed in 1976 by Brutti, sporchi e cattivi. The decade ends with La Terrazza (1979), a collective portrait of 'drawing-room night life', involving a group of roman intellectuals. Subsequently he directs Passione d'amore (1981), a powerful transcription of Fosca; Il Mondo Nuovo \ La Nuit de Varenne (1982) - a story about the end of Luigi XVI reign; Ballando, Ballando (1983) - from the homonymous Theatre du Campagnol and the choral La Famiglia (1987). In 1988 he realizes Splendor, with Massimo Troisi, Che ora è and Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa. 1993 sees him as Director of Mario, Maria e Mario with Enrico Loverso, Giulio Scarpati and Valeria Cavalli, and Romanzo di un giovane povero (1995), with Alberto Sordi and Valeria Cavalli. One of Scola's latest films La Cena is set in a renown roman tavern, and his last film Concorrenza sleale relates a story set during the fascist period.

FILMOGRAFIA
Filmography