Liliana Cavani

Italian cinematographer, a film-maker of political documentaries including "The Story of the Third Reich" and "I, Cannibali." With a few scandals in her career, she has attacked the press, especially in defense of director Pasolini. A private person who seems cold and aloof, her work shows a quality of sadness and an emotional capacity to show the pathos of life.

Cavani earned a B.A. in classic literature and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Bologna. After receiving her degree, she was chosen by the RAI-TV from one of 10,000 candidates to direct a documentary in 1961. Since then she has achieved much success in theatre and opera and has received the Commander of the Order of merit of the Italian Republic in 1986 as well as two other awards.

After attending Rome’s Centro Sperimentale film school, she made documentaries and dramas for Italian TV. Her best-known picture, "The Night Porter," released in 1974, dealt with sado-masochistic relationships of the Nazi’s and was well received in the U.S. despite negative reactions. She has also staged operas.