Suso Cecchi d'Amico

She was a member of the jury at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

Suso Cecchi d'Amico studied at Lycée français Chateaubriand. The recorded working language is French, Italian and English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Italian neorealism. Distinctions recorded are David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art.

Giovanna Cecchi was born on 21 July 1914 in Rome. She was immediately renamed Susanna by her father, and her parents' Tuscan heritage soon nicknamed her "Suso". Her father, Emilio Cecchi (1884–1966), was from Florence, known for his work as a literary critic and author, but also as a film producer and director, while her mother, Leonetta Pieraccini (1882–1977), originated from Siena and was a well-known painter and writer.[5] Suso attended the French lycée in Rome and then proceeded to pursue higher education in Switzerland and Cambridge.[7] Upon her return to Rome, she used her proficiency in languages to secure work with the Ministry of Foreign Trade.[8] In 1932, her father returned from a two-year professorship in the United States. Having witnessed the work being done in the film industry abroad, he was made the new director of the Cines studios by the government. Here, D'Amico's exposure to the film industry began as she frequented the soundstages, familiarising herself with the processes, crews, writers, and actors.[9] In 1938, she married musicologist Fedele "Lele" D'Amico, son of theatre critic Silvio D'Amico. Though Lele went into hiding during World War II due to his work for an anti-Fascist publication, the pair had three children who they themselves made significant contributions to Italian culture: Masolino, Silvia, and Caterina.[11]

With the war to come, d'Amico left the Ministry and became a translator of literary works, all the while being asked by her father's peers to read scripts in order to give her feedback. Later, she was asked by producer Carlo Ponti and director Renato Castellani to write one herself and her career as a screenwriter was launched.[12] Earning herself the nickname of the Grand Lady of Italian Cinema, d’Amico was a pioneer for women screenwriters and welcomed by her male counterparts thanks to the value of her input as a female perspective that was otherwise lacking in the writers' room, she helped create and write for and about credible female characters.[13] Moreover, she proliferated during the time that Italian neorealism was being created and gaining global interest; she developed a style of writing that combined her literary education and understanding of the people, and was distinct for its succinct dialogue. She kept actors' lines short because, true to neorealist form, they were often amateurs with little experience, and so it was easier to keep their lines short.

Suso Cecchi d'Amico died on 31 July 2010 in Rome. Her death was noted by the president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, who stated that she was a "great protagonist of one of the best seasons of Italian cinema".[14]

• 1962: Boccaccio 70 (segment "Renzo e Luciana")

She also worked under the name Suso Cecchi D'Amico. Her recorded languages were French, Italian and English. She was the child of Emilio Cecchi and Leonetta Cecchi Pieraccini. She married Fedele D'Amico. One child is recorded: Masolino D'Amico. Other recorded relations include Gaetano Pieraccini.

* * • Literature on Suso Cecchi D'Amico