Historically, Italy聽has given a lot to the art of filmmaking and Americans have always been fascinated by “Cinema Italiano” and by Italian films finding it and its聽craftsmanship unique and inspiring.聽Of course, the Academy has also been very receptive to the films produced in聽Italy and indeed, as of 2014, Italy is the country that has won more Oscars for best foreign film than any other, a total of 11 Academy awards for best picture and 3 honorary awards.
Let’s see in detail which films, their directors and the year they won.
Honorary Awards
- 厂肠颈耻蝉肠颈脿听(“Shoeshine,” 1947), by Vittorio De Sica
- Ladri di Biciclette聽(“The Bycicle Thieves,” 1949), by Vittorio De Sica
- Le Mura di Malapaga聽(“The Walls of Malapaga,” 1950), by Ren茅 Cl茅ment
Best Foreign Movie Awards
- La Strada聽(1957), by聽Federico Fellini
- Le Notti di Cabiria聽(“The Nights of Cabiria,” 1958), by Federico Fellini
- 8 1/2聽(1963), by Federico Fellini
- Ieri, Oggi e Domani聽(“Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” 1965), by Vittorio De Sica
- Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini聽(“The Garden of the Finzi-Contini,” 1970), by Vittorio De Sica
- Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto聽(“Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion,” 1971), by聽Elio Petri
- 础尘补谤肠辞谤诲听(1974) by Federico Fellini
- Nuovo Cinema Paradiso聽(“Cinema Paradiso,” 1989), by Giuseppe Tornatore
- 惭别诲颈迟别谤谤补苍别辞听(1998), by Gabriele Salvatores
- La Vita 猫 Bella聽(“Life is Beautiful,” 1999), by Roberto Benigni
- La Grande Bellezza聽(“The Great Beauty,” 2014), by Paolo Sorrentino
La Strada by Federico Fellini, an 聽Italian 聽film that won the Oscar in 1957.聽ph. wikimedia/pabloglezcruzSome Curiosities…
In 1974 Federico Fellini broke the record of 4 Oscars with “Amarcord”, becoming the world’s record holder in number of Oscar won along with John Ford.聽聽Many consider De Sica’s honorary awards as regular Oscars, which would give him a total of 4 statuettes, too.
La Vita 猫 Bella聽brought home聽three Academy awards, for best actor, best music and聽one for the best foreign movie. Benigni’s聽acceptance speech 鈥撀燿uring which he walked on聽theater seats and kissed Sophia Loren 鈥撀爄s still considered to this day聽one of the liveliest in the Academy’s history.聽It is just one more example of how Italian passion and talent 聽have captivated Hollywood.
Check out our article on Italians who won an Oscar for more on this topic!
