Mario Masini Explained

Mario Masini
Birth Place:Savona, Kingdom of Italy
Death Place: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.[4] In the 1980s Masini retired from the industry to work as a teacher in some Steiner schools, and later moved to Stuttgart. He reprised his cinema activities in the early 1990s, working mainly in independent and arthouse international productions. Masini was also a director of experimental and often surrealist films. He died on 13 March 2023, at the age of 84.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Monaco, James . The Movie Guide . 1992 . Perigee Books . 978-0-399-51780-8 . en.
  2. News: Di Martino . Bruno . 14 March 2023 . Mario Masini, il cinema vissuto tra amore e professione . en . . 24 March 2023.
  3. News: Addio a Mario Masini, direttore della fotografia. Lavorò con Bene e i fratelli Taviani . 24 March 2023 . Il Denaro . 14 March 2023 . it-IT.
  4. News: Fumagallo . Michele . Mario Masini, le luci, le ombre, i colori di Carmelo Bene . 24 March 2023 . Il manifesto . 11 March 2016 . en.