Birth Anniversary: Michelangelo Antonioni — September 29, 1912

Michelangelo Antonioni was born in Ferrara on 29 September 1912, to Ismaele Antonioni and Elisabetta Roncaglia. He left his native city for Rome in 1939, but kept a lasting attachment to it, going as far as asking to be buried there. He became one of Italian cinema’s defining directors, from Il grido (1957) to L’avventura (1960, special jury prize at Cannes), Red Desert (1964, Golden Lion at Venice) and Blow-Up (1966, Palme d’Or).

Portrait of Michelangelo Antonioni. Photo: Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica), public domain.