Pupi Avati

Giuseppe "Pupi" Avati (born 3 November 1938) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his giallo movie The House with Laughing Windows (1976) and Zeder (1983).

Pupi Avati was born in Bologna in 1938. After attending school and studying political science at the University of Florence, he started working at a frozen food company. At the same time, he developed a passion for jazz, becoming a proficient clarinetist. In the second half of the 1950s, he formed and played in the Doctor Dixie Jazz Band, of which Lucio Dalla was also a member.

Although he initially intended to be a professional musician, Avati felt he lacked the necessary talent. In the mid-1960s, he decided to dedicate himself to cinema after seeing Federico Fellini's 8½ and its portrait of the role of a director. Avati's passion for music, as well as his love for his hometown, which was the setting of many of his films, were to become recurrent themes found in his productions.

His first films were Balsamus. L'uomo di Satana (1968) and Thomas e gli indemoniati (1969).

His filmography as a director includes almost forty^[vague] films and television works. As a screenwriter, Avati wrote or co-authored the majority of his movies, as well as screenplays for other directors. He cooperated on the script of Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, 1976) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, even though he is not credited for it. ^{[citation needed]} He also produced several films for other directors and of his own work. Many of his movies are also produced by his brother Antonio Avati.

Avati began his career directing horror films and is considered one of the most notable Italian directors of this genre, with titles including La casa dalle finestre che ridono (The House with Laughing Windows, 1976) and Zeder (1983), which are considered his masterpieces.

According to Avati, the TV series Jazz Band (1978), written about the story of the Doctor Dixie Jazz Band, marked a turning point for his work. The subject of his movies began coming from his own experience, and his cinema became more nostalgic, introspective, and autobiographic. Moreover, the series was successful and brought Avati to the attention of a wider public compared to his previous films.

Throughout his career, Avati successfully directed and produced many genres of film, including horrors, medieval period pieces, dramas, jazz comedies, buddy comedies, biopics and others, proving himself to be a versatile director.