Federico Fellini was born 103 years ago today.
An Italian film director and scriptwriter, Fellini was known for his distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images. He is considered one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and his work is widely revered.
Among his films are Nights of Cabria (1956), La Dolce Vita (1960), 8½ (1963), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Fellini Satyricon (1969), Casanova (1976) and City of Women (1980).
Key influences on his work include Luis Buñuel, Charlie Chaplin, Sergei Eisenstein, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers and Roberto Rossellini.
Personal and highly idiosyncratic visions of society, Fellini's films are a unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy and desire. The adjectives "Fellinian" and "Felliniesque" are "synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque image in the cinema and in art in general."
La Dolce Vita contributed the term paparazzi to the English language, derived from Paparazzo, the photographer friend of journalist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni).
Fellini won five Academy Awards including the most number of Oscars in history for Best Foreign Language Film. He died in 1993 at age 73.
Federico Fellini auditioning in Paris, 1975, for the film, Casanova
Photo by Michelangelo Durazzo