Giuseppe De Santis

Giuseppe De Santis 11 February 1917 16 May 1997 was an Italian film director One of the most idealistic neorealist filmmakers of the 1940s and 1950s he wrote and directed films punctuated by ardent cries for social reform In 1942 De Santis collaborated on the script for Ossessione Luchino Viscontis debut film which is usually considered one of the first neorealist films His third film Bitter Rice 1950 the story of a young woman working in the rice fields who must choose between two socially disparate suitors made a star of Silvana Mangano and was a landmark of the new cinematic style It also earned De Santis an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story