Bernardo Bertolucci was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years.

He was the first Italian filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Last Emperor (1987), one of many accolades including two Golden Globes, two David di Donatellos, a British Academy Award, and a César Award. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, he had previously received a Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival.

A protégé of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bertolucci made his directorial debut at 22.

His 1987 film The Last Emperor, a biopic of Chinese monarch Puyi, was an critical and commercial success, earning rave reviews and sweeping the 60th Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director). He followed its success with two more films in his "Oriental Trilogy– The Sheltering Sky, an adaptation of the novel of the same name, and Little Buddha, a Buddhist religious epic.

Bertolucci's films often deal with themes of politics, sexuality, history, class conflict, and social taboos; marked by a sensual, colorful visual style that's proved influential to filmmakers around the world. Several of his film have appeared on lists of the greatest film of all time.

(Source: Wikipedia) Edit Biography