Mario Masini

Not to be confused with Marco Masini.
Mario Masini
Masini in 2009
Born28 January 1939 (1939-01-28)
Savona, Kingdom of Italy
Died13 March 2023 (2023-03-14) (aged 84)
Stuttgart, Germany

Mario Masini (28 January 1939 – 13 March 2023) was an Italian cinematographer and experimental director. He won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival with the film Padre Padrone in 1976.[1]

Life and career

Born in Savona, Masini grew up in Tuscany and in 1961 he graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.[2] He started his film career as assistant operator of Vittorio Storaro in Daniele D'Anza's Pugni, pupe e marinai.[3] He is best known for his association with Carmelo Bene, with whom he collaborated as a cinematographer in all his films, including the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner Our Lady of the Turks; other notable collaborations include Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (notably being the cinematographer of Palme d'Or winner Padre Padrone), Bruno Bozzetto, Giuseppe Ferrara and Vittorio De Sisti.[2][3][4] In the 1980s Masini retired from the industry to work as a teacher in some Steiner schools, and later moved to Stuttgart.[2] He reprised his cinema activities in the early 1990s, working mainly in independent and arthouse international productions.[2]

Masini was also a director of experimental and often surrealist films.[2] He died on 13 March 2023, at the age of 84.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Monaco, James (1992). The Movie Guide. Perigee Books. ISBN 978-0-399-51780-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Di Martino, Bruno (14 March 2023). "Mario Masini, il cinema vissuto tra amore e professione". Il manifesto. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Addio a Mario Masini, direttore della fotografia. Lavorò con Bene e i fratelli Taviani". Il Denaro (in Italian). 14 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  4. ^ Fumagallo, Michele (11 March 2016). "Mario Masini, le luci, le ombre, i colori di Carmelo Bene". Il manifesto. Retrieved 24 March 2023.