Ruggero Deodato: Last News

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While at the Venice Film Festival to pay tribute to Ruggero Deodato, “Drive” and “The Neon Demon” filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn participated in a masterclass and bashed streamers for being “overfunded and rotten with money and cocaine.” The director, who previously infuriated some in the film biz by claiming that “cinema is dead,” said he has somewhat changed his mind and will now fight for cinema to continue on because streamers have “kind of saturated everything” and “devalued content to just a swipe.” Refn, who last directed the series “Copenhagen Cowboy” for Netflix, said “it’s incredibly sad and terrifying because art is essentially the only thing – besides, you know, sex, water and happiness — that makes us exist.” “Even though I projected it was dead a few years ago, it has changed into something we have to fight for,” he added. “Theatrical movies are part of what makes us human and experience creativity.” The director, who lives in Copenhagen with his wife and children, went on to tie streamers to the dangers of artificial intelligence saying that it’s “certainly something affecting our industry.” “AI is not an artist,” Refn proclaimed.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent While it’s still uncertain how many U.S. movie stars will be attending the upcoming Venice Film Festival, the fest has announced a series of masterclasses to be held by top directors including Wes Anderson, Edward Berger, Damien Chazelle and Nicolas Winding Refn. Several of the Venice masterclasses are dedicated to helmers being lauded by the fest such as “The Night Porter” director Liliana Cavani, who is being celebrated with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and Anderson, who will receive the fest’s Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award.

Ruggero Deodato, the Italian filmmaker whose hyper-realistic found-footage horror pic Cannibal Holocaust got him arrested and was banned in more than 50 countries, died today, Italian media reported. He was 83. No details of his death were given.

died aged 83.The late screenwriter and actor is said to have influenced high-profile Hollywood filmmakers with his work, including Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone and Eli Roth.Deodato had a lengthy career in cinema, but remains best known for his gruesome 1980 horror film, Cannibal Holocaust.The movie was banned in multiple countries and sparked controversy around the world.Some disturbing scenes included depictions of extreme violence and torture, while real violence against animals, including onscreen killings of monkeys and a coati, were shown.Cannibal Holocaust was also a pioneer of the “found footage” pseudo-documentary genre, preceding other famous films such as 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. While his film was very divisive, he did win a cult following that included several influential Hollywood filmmakers. Tarantino has cited him among his influences, while Roth has also referenced him as one of his inspirations.Roth paid homage to Cannibal Holocaust in his 2013 cannibal horror The Green Inferno.Deodato then later made a cameo appearance in Roth's 2007 shocker Hostel II.The late star began his career as a highly regarded assistant director for Roberto Rossellini.He then went on to work as a number two to Sergio Corbucci on the influential 1966 spaghetti western Django.The movie was the inspiration for Tarantino's 2012 Western drama film Django Unchained.Deodato spent the next few decades of his career making more than 30 movies, although Cannibal Holocaust remains his best-known. The film’s plot follows an academic who heads into the Amazon forest in search of a missing US documentary crew who are feared to have been eaten by a tribe.He then discovers the film they recorded before their horrific deaths and, to