Mario Nuzzolese (10 December 1915 – 21 October 2008), was an Italian Lieutenant Colonel, teacher, journalist and film critic. He led the

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...

and entertainment culture. He contributed to the management and development of the National AGIS Association and managed the Regional Delegation for more than 40 years.

Military career

In 1942 he was sent with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to defend the Italian trenches during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Africa Campaign on the

El Alamein El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...

front, recruited by the

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

commanded by the Major Paolo Caccia Dominioni. During a battle he had a lucky landing in the Sahara Desert with his Fiat Cicogna that caused severe and irreversible vertebral injuries. For the strategy, courage and seriousness he was awarded a

Bronze Medal of Military Valor The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

Cinema

In 1945 he started projecting silent movies in a little room of the School Balilla in Bari, allowing his students to explore the educational power of videos with his first censures. During the early 1950s, in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Nuzzolese directed the first B/W documentary on the

Basilica di San Nicola The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Nicholas (Basilica of Saint Nicholas) is a Church (building), church in Bari, Southern Italy that holds wide religious significance throughout Europe and the Christian world. The basilica is an important pilgrima ...

of Bari, actually, property of the historical

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

Archives. He devoted his life to the family and the cinema culture, ideated and founded Cinemas ABC (1976) one of the first essay cinemas in Europe inaugurated by Minister Adolfo Sarti with the movie "Quanto è bello lu murire acciso" of Ennio Lorenzini. The Centre of Culture liked too much also to the Italian Film Director

Carlo Lizzani Carlo Lizzani (3 April 1922 – 5 October 2013) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and critic. Biography Born in Rome, before World War II Lizzani worked as a scenarist on such films as Roberto Rossellini's '' Germany Year Zero' ...

, that permitted to print 11 movies of the Venice Film Festival. It was reopened on 19 January 2010, after restoration and conservation interventions, with an honour plate to him dedicated. He participated several times in the Annual

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Festival de Cannes The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. He founded associations to improve Italian Cinemas traditions and the target of its supporters such as Agiscuola and FICE. In 1980 he was awarded by the former President of the Council of Ministers,

Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; sc, Frantziscu Maurìtziu Còssiga, ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian pol ...

, with the title of

Commendatore Commendatore (singular), Commendatori (plural), is an Italian word originating from the latin phrase In commendam and meaning "Commander". It may refer to: Position, rank, title * Commander (order) ( it, Commendatore), the title of honour "Comma ...

della Repubblica and different times by the AGIS Association with several medals of honours for his loyalty, fidelity and positive results. He collected original 8mm films, VHS, movies billboards and specialized magazines creating the invaluable AGIS's collection.

Journalism

He wrote several articles and film criticisms for the newspapers

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

, Repubblica and Giornale dello Spettacolo; and socially divulged the essay cinema culture in television format.

Honours

Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic * Valor militare bronze medal BAR

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuzzolese, Mario 1915 births 2008 deaths Italian male journalists Italian soldiers People from Bari Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Italian film critics 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian male writers