Italian director and screenwriter of Swiss origin. Born in Rome on August 14, 1928, she studied acting at the National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D’Amico in Rome and toured Europe with a puppet theatre immediately after graduating. She worked in the theatre for ten years as an actress, director and author. During this time, she met the actor Giancarlo Giannini, who later appeared in many of her films. In 1962, she worked as an assistant director on Fellini's 8½. She directed numerous films, including The Basilisk (1963), The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love and Anarchy (1973), Seven Beauties (1975) for which she was the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination as director, Summer Night with Greek Profile (1986), etc. In 1987, she staged her first opera (Carmen, Teatro di San Carlo, Naples), followed by La bohème for the Greek National Opera (1997). She passed away on December 9, 2021. // Last update of the biography: February 2021- The list of the productions below is complete.