Maria Pia Fusco (July 8, 1939 – December 13, 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and journalist. From 1975 to 1978, she worked on the script for

Tinto Brass Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the Erot ...

's '' Saloon Kitty'', the scripts for three of the five entries into the Black Emanuelle series directed by

Joe D'Amato Aristide Massaccesi (15 December 1936 – 23 January 1999), known professionally as Joe D'Amato, was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres (western (genre), westerns, ''Commedia sexy all' ...

, and the script to ''

Sturmtruppen ''Sturmtruppen'' is a successful Italian series of anti-war comic books written and drawn by Bonvi, the artistic pseudonym of Franco Bonvicini. It started as four-frame comic strips back in 1968 and evolved into fully sized collector books by th ...

'', a film adaptation of the homonymous comic book series by

Bonvi Bonvi, pen name of Franco Bonvicini (31 March 1941 – 10 December 1995) was an Italian comic book artist, creator of the comic strips ''Sturmtruppen'' and ''Nick Carter (comics), Nick Carter''. Biography Bonvicini was born either in Parma or in ...

. As journalist for ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'', she reported on contemporary cinema and conducted interviews with many famous Italian and international directors and actors, including a 1998 behind-the-scenes reportage on

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

Life and career

Fusco was born in Rome on July 8, 1939. Her father was a policeman. As a sort of rebellion, Fusco went to London and, in 1972, began her career in film co-scripting ''

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" ( ) is a French Folklore, folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in . The tale is about a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives an ...

'' - the first of a number of initially mostly erotic films that she wrote or co-wrote. In the meantime, Fusco started working as journalist for ''

'', which had only been founded recently. For at least three decades, she followed the film festivals of Cannes, Venice, Berlin, London, Marrakesh and others, conducting interviews with Italian directors including

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

Pietro Germi Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the Italian neorealism, neorealist and genres. His 1961 film ''Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a Ac ...

Ermanno Olmi Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018)Lane, John Francis (May 7, 2018).Ermanno Olmi obituary. ''The Guardian''. theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018. was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing '' Il Posto'' ( ...

Giuseppe Bertolucci Giuseppe Bertolucci (27 February 1947 – 16 June 2012) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 26 films between 1972 and 2012. He was the younger brother of Bernardo Bertolucci. Selected filmography * ''Berlinguer, I Lov ...

and

Nanni Moretti Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His films have won accolades, including a at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize ...

, as well as younger filmmakers - many of whom her friends - and international stars such as

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

and

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

. With the latter, she was to work on a script shortly before the incident in which

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she appeared in advertisements and small television roles before appearing in films as well as working as a model. After receiv ...

was murdered. Through her friendship with

Ken Adam Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for '' Dr. Str ...

, Fusco also managed to enter

's mansion to report behind the scenes in an article published on July 23, 1998. According to Anna Bandettini, it was her masterpiece, representing her way of reporting on cinema not in an abstract way, but on its stories and lives. Fusco died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on December 13, 2016, after a short and devastating illness. She was buried at the

Cimitero acattolico The Non-Catholic Cemetery (), also referred to as the Protestant Cemetery () or the English Cemetery (), is a private cemetery in the rione of Testaccio in Rome. It is near Porta San Paolo and adjacent to the Pyramid of Cestius, a small-scale ...

Filmography as scriptwriter

* ''

'' (co-writer) (1972) directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ...

* ''Daniele e Maria, una storia d'amore'' (1973) directed by

Ennio De Concini Ennio De Concini (9 December 1923, Rome – 17 November 2008) was an Italian screenwriter and film director, winning the Academy Award in 1962 for the Best Original Screenplay for '' Divorce Italian Style''.Fox, Margalit (28 November 2008) ...

* '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973) directed by Ennio De Concini * '' Folies bourgeoises'' (adaptation of the novel) (1976) directed by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

* '' Saloon Kitty'' (1976) directed by

* ''

Emanuelle in Bangkok ''Emanuelle in Bangkok'' (Italian: ''Emanuelle nera - Orient Reportage'', also known as ''Black Emanuelle 2'' and ''Black Emanuelle Goes East'') is an Italian sexploitation film from 1976 starring Laura Gemser and Gabriele Tinti and directed by ...

'' (1976) directed by

* ''

Emanuelle in America ''Emanuelle in America'' is a 1977 Italian sexploitation film, the third in the Black Emanuelle series starring Laura Gemser It is the second in the series to be directed by Joe D'Amato and has journalist Emanuelle investigate the production ...

'' (1977) directed by Joe D'Amato * ''

Emanuelle Around the World ''Emanuelle Around the World'' (Italian: ''Emanuelle – Perché violenza alle donne?'', also known as ''Confessions of Emanuelle'') is a 1977 sexploitation directed by Joe D'Amato. The film stars Laura Gemser and George Eastman, Karin Schubert and ...

'' (1977) directed by Joe D'Amato * ''Il maestro di violino'' (1976) directed by

Giovanni Fago Giovanni Fago (born 25 April 1933) is an Italian director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, Fago began his cinema career in 1959 as assistant director of, among others, Mario Monicelli, Camillo Mastrocinque, Vittorio De Sica, Renato Castellani, Jos ...

* ''

'' (1976) directed by

Salvatore Samperi Salvatore Samperi (26 July 1944 – 4 March 2009) was an Italian film director. His 1973 film ''Malicious (1973 film), Malicious'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival and his 1979 film ''Ernesto (film), Ernesto' ...

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusco, Maria 1939 births 2016 deaths Italian women screenwriters Italian women journalists