ROME – Director Paolo Taviani died aged 92 on Thursday in Rome after a short illness, his family announced.

 Taviani was a well-known director who worked with his brother Vittorio, making famous films such as Padre Padrone and La notte di San Lorenzo, known in English as the Night of the Shooting Stars.

 Originally from San Miniato, Pisa, the duo initially started their careers as journalists before trying their hand at directing. They went on to win many awards for their films, including the Palme D’Or at Cannes Film Festival for Padre Padrone and the Special Jury Award for La notte di San Lorenzo.

 Their works focused on life in Italy, starting off as a form of civic engagement with films such as Under the Sign of the Scorpion. Many of the films were based on literary works, such as Short Stories for a Year by Pirandello and Tolstoy’s The Divine and the Human.

 In the 2000s, the brothers also began directing television series based on literary works, including Resurrection in 2001 and Luisa Sanfelice in 2004.

 Vittorio died in 2018, age 88, after a long illness.

 Paolo’s last stint as a director came in 2022, called Leonora addio, based on the novel of the same name by Pirandello. He won the International Federation of Film Critics’ award in Berlin for the film.

 He is survived by his wife and two children.

 khg