Lina Wertmüller was an Italian filmmaker and the first woman nominated for an Academy Award for directing.
Oscar-winning career
Wertmüller directed her first film, “The Lizards,” in 1963. She built her reputation over the 1960s and ‘70s as a risk-taker whose films defied genre conventions. Her best-known films were made in the 1970s, beginning with “The Seduction of Mimi” in 1972, which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Her next film, “Love and Anarchy,” was also a Palme d’Or nominee, and 1975’s “Swept Away” won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Top Foreign Film. Wertmüller’s 1977 film “Seven Beauties” was an international success, receiving four Oscar nominations including Best Director and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) for Wertmüller. The last of her two dozen films was 2004’s “Too Much Romance… It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers.” In 2019, Wertmüller was recognized with the Academy Honorary Award for her career achievements.
Notable quote
“Humor is part of me. … I’ve always thought that irony and humor are appropriate and effective keys to approach political topics in a film, even if your story is tragic and very serious. My grotesque stories could not exist without the combination of humor and tragedy.” —from a 2017 interview with Charles Bramesco
Tributes to Lina Wertmüller
Full obituary: The Washington Post
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