Film director Michelangelo Antonioni was born on September 29, 1912, and passed away on July 30, 2007. He was originally from Ferrara, Italy. While studying at the University of Bologna in Italy, he began contributing film reviews to local newspapers, and in 1939 he joined the editorial staff of the film magazine Cinema. In 1940, he moved to Rome and began writing screenplays under director Roberto Rossellini. In 1942, he worked as assistant director on Marcel Carné's The Devil's Night. In 1950, he made his feature film directorial debut with Record of Love. His 1956 film The Friend received high praise at the Venice Film Festival, bringing him worldwide recognition. It was around this time that he established long takes as his style.

He subsequently won a string of prestigious film awards, including the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for "L'Avventura" in 1960, the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for "Night" in 1961, and the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for "The Sun Is Alone" in 1962. In 1966, Antonioni's first English-language film, "Blow-Up," won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

His final film as director was "Eros" (2004), at the age of 88, and he died in Rome in July 2007.