Franco Prosperi

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Franco E. Prosperi (* 1928 in Rome ) is an Italian documentary filmmaker and film director . He is not to be confused with his namesake, the action film director Francesco Prosperi .

Life

Prosperi graduated in science and agriculture and specialized in ichthyology as a student of Edoardo Zavattari at the University of La Sapienza in Rome . He was soon one of the pioneers of underwater research and led expeditions in the Indian Ocean, for which he received the L'Arpione d'Oro award.

In 1953 he led an expedition for the Geographical Society of Italy , for which a film team was also there, for which Prosperi contributed underwater recordings. Other research trips to exotic places (u.  A. Madagascar to Comoros , Seychelles , Papua New Guinea ) followed. By 1955 he also made around 25 nature documentaries. He then decided to end his scientific career in favor of film.

With Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti , whom he met while filming his documentaries, he has made a number of Mondo films since the early 1960s , of which he can count himself to being the founders. The first foray into the strange world, Mondo Cane , received a David di Donatello and an Oscar nomination in the film music category. The extraordinary success with the audience and the accompanying public debate led to the other films Mondo Cane 2 , All women of the world (also awarded a “David”) and Africa Addio (again a “David”). This was followed by collaborations with Antonio Climati and Mario Morra . In 1983 he directed his only feature film, the horror film Wild Beasts .

Since the late 1970s, Prosperi has devoted himself again to ethnological and natural topics, for which he researched in Kenya , Uganda and other African countries.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1962: Mondo Cane (Mondo cane)
  • 1963: All women in the world (La donna nel mondo)
  • 1963: The world's first erotic (Canzoni nel mondo) (script only)
  • 1963: Mondo Cane II (Mondo cane n.2)
  • 1966: Africa Addio (Africa addio)
  • 1971: Addio, Uncle Tom! (Addio zio Tom)
  • 1974: Mondo candido (Mondo candido)
  • 1984: Wild Beasts (Wild Beasts - Belve feroci)
script
  • 1987: Green Inferno (Paradiso infernale)

Publications (selection)

  • 1956: King of the Sharks: Hunting corals and predatory fish . Nymphenburger, 216 pp.
  • 1965: The Islands of the Moon: an expedition to the Comoros . Engelbert-Verlag, 111 pp.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roberto Poppi: Dizionario del cinema italiano. I registers. Gremese Editore, Rome 2002, p. 347
personal data
SURNAME Prosperi, Franco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prosperi, Franco E.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian documentary filmmaker and film director
DATE OF BIRTH 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome