Dino Risi

Italian director and screenwriter Dino Risi first worked as a psychiatrist before entering cinema as a film critic and screenwriter. In the early '40s, he briefly worked as an assistant director; toward the end of WWII, Risi was detained in Switzerland where he studied under filmmaker Jacques Feyder. When he returned to Italy, he began making short documentaries, and by the early '50s had completely abandoned psychiatry to direct feature films, where he was noted for his ability to use Neapolitan-style humor to comment upon social situations in Italy, most particularly the plight of the poor. In addition to directing, Risi co-authored the stories and screenplays for most of his films. He died at age 91 in 2008.