Pasquale Festa Campanile

Pasquale Festa Campanile (28 July 1927 – 25 February 1986) was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the commedia all'italiana genre. Life and career Born at Melfi, in the province of Potenza, he moved to Rome at young age. He started as a writer and literary critic. La nonna Sabella, one of his novels, was later adapted by Dino Risi into the movie of the same name, internationally known as Oh! Sabella (1957). He began his cinema career as a screenwriter with Faddija – La legge della vendetta (1949) by Roberto Bianchi Montero and later co-produced masterpieces of Italian cinema such as (1957) by Risi and Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Leopard (1963) by Luchino Visconti. His first film as a director was A Sentimental Attempt (1963), along with Massimo Franciosa. Subsequently he made many films of the commedia all'italiana genre, including La Matriarca (1969), Il merlo maschio (1971), Jus primae noctis (1972) and (1975), the latter is based on his novel with the same name.