Gillo Pontecorvo (1919-2006) joined the Communist Party and the partisan resistance movement as a young man. After the war, he directed social enquiry films, including Missione Timiriazev (1953), Pane e zolfo (1956), and collaborated with Joris Ivens for La rosa dei venti (1956). His films have a distinct political agenda: Kapò (1959), which received an Oscar nomination; La battaglia di Algeri (1966), which won the Leone d'Oro at Venice; Queimada (1969) on the indipendentiste battles in South America; and Ogro (1979), on the Basque resistance movement. He directed the Venice Film Festival from 1993 to 1996.
