Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing Il Posto (1961) and The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1977), which won the Palme d'Or. Throughout his career Olmi blended Italian neorealism with Christian humanism, with many of his films following humble characters through the spiritual trials of harsh conditions.

Early life

Olmi was born to a working-class Catholic family in Bergamo, in the Lombardy region in northern Italy, and raised in nearby Treviglio.

When Olmi was three years old, his family moved to Milan, where his parents found work with the utility company Edison-Volta.

His The Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi) also won a David di Donatello award.

Awards

  • 1978: Palme d'Or for The Tree of Wooden Clogs
  • 1988: Golden Lion for The Legend of the Holy Drinker
  • 2004: Leopard of Honour
  • 2008: Honorary Golden Lion

David di Donatello

  • 1962: Best Director for Il Posto
  • 1989: Best Director for The Legend of the Holy Drinker
  • 2002: Best Director for The Profession of Arms

Nastro d'Argento

  • 1979: Best Director for The Tree of Wooden Clogs
  • 1989: Best Director for The Legend of the Holy Drinker

Filmography

  • Time Stood Still (1959)
  • Il Posto (1961)
  • The Fiances (1963)
  • A Man Named John (1965)
  • One Fine Day (1968)
  • In the Summertime (1971)
  • The Circumstance (1973)
  • The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
  • Walking, Walking (1983)
  • Long Live the Lady! (1987)
  • The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)
  • The Secret of the Old Woods (1993)
  • Genesis: The Creation and the Flood (1994)
  • The Profession of Arms (2001)
  • Singing Behind Screens (2003)
  • One Hundred Nails (2007)
  • The Cardboard Village (2011)
  • Greenery Will Bloom Again (2014)

Legacy

Olmi has been the subject of many retrospectives. In 2019, the Austrian Film Museum conducted a complete retrospective of Olmi's work (excluding only his short films) – together with the films of Federico Fellini – in collaboration with the Cineteca Nazionale and the "Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Vienna".

Also in 2019, Film at Lincoln Center honored Olmi with a two-week retrospective. The series was co-produced by Istituto Luce Cinecittà and presented in association with the Ministry of Culture of Italy. The films then traveled to Cleveland, where the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque hosted a seven-part retrospective.

In 2008 he received the Honorary Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He had turned down the same award in 2004, feeling that it would have signified a premature end to his career.

In 1963 Olmi married Loredana Detto, who had played Antonietta Masetti in his film Il Posto (1961). The couple had 3 children; Fabio, Elisabetta, and Andrea.