Flaiano, Ennio

(1910-1972)

   Novelist, playwright, journalist, and screenwriter. Flaiano began writing for films in the early 1940s and achieved an early success with the award of a Nastro d'argento for the screenplay of Marcello Pagliero's Roma citta libera (Rome Free City, 1946). While continuing to pursue a literary career—he won the prestigious Premio Strega in 1947 with his novel Tempo di uccidere (Time to Kill)—he also collaborated on numerous screenplays with many of the major directors, from Roberto Rossellini, for whom he helped to write Dov'e la liberta? (Where Is Freedom, 1954) to Michelangelo Antonioni, for whom he wrote La notte (The Night, 1960). His greatest screenwriting successes, however, came from his long association with Federico Fellini, with whom he worked on almost a dozen films, including La dolce vita (1960) and Otto e mezzo (8V2, 1963), the latter earning him two Nastri d'argento as well as an Oscar nomination. In 1989 Giuliano Montaldo adapted Flaiano's Tempo di uccidere for the screen.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira