Born: 1 May 1942, Rome, Italy; a.k.a. 'Beppe' Lanci.

Education: Centro sperimentale di cinematografia [CSC], Rome.

Awards: 'David di Donatello' Award [1986] for 'Un complicato intrigo di donne, vicoli e delitti'; 'David di Donatello' Award nom [1991] for 'Il sole anche di notte' & 'La condanna'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1993] for 'Fiorile'; 'David di Donatello' Award nom [2000] & Italian Film Journalists 'Silver Ribbon' nom [2000] for 'La balia'; Italian Film Journalists 'Silver Ribbon' nom [2001] for 'La stanza del figlio'.

About Andrei Tarkovsky and 'Nostalghia': 'The rapport with Andrei on 'Nostalghia' certainly was an event which I remember with great emotion until this day. [We met] by accident. He was looking for a director of photography who was also mentally prepared for this adventure, and through various sources my name came up. A friend of mine introduced me to Andrei. We met at Piazza Navona for tea, and at the end of this encounter he takes out a script and offers it to me. I can feel the emotion of that moment right now.'

'Andrei used to tell me that cinema uses time like a narrative element, while the photography normally remains constant for the duration of a sequence. It is precisely time that the 'dynamic photography' exploits to render a different consistency to the film. An example is the atmospheric conditions within nature: if during a cloudy day the sun comes out at a certain moment this will modify the condition of the light. In an interior space if someone enters a dark room and turns on the light this will change the condition of the light. However, this is all tied to precise actions. This discourse is amplified in 'Nostalghia', where in addition to variations in natural light were added variations, which correspond to emotional motivation rather than any sense of logic.'

'During the shooting phase we used a transport mechanism posted in front of the lights - a series of metal sheets hung on a frame - to vary the light intensity without modifying the color temperature. While in postproduction there was a much more marked technical intervention because the film was printed with a system called ENR at Roma Technicolor laboratory. With the ENR process I was able to desaturate the colors to the maximum and augment the contrast in a scene, even if this restricted me to print on color positive even the sequences shot in black and white.'

'During the filming Andrei would [sometimes ask for] a slight increase in shooting speed, hardly noticeable, and therefore far from the slow motion effect we have been accustomed to seeing in many films. This was solely to have greater suspension, therefore always in the service of a certain atmosphere in the film. Technically this variation in speed consisted of a slight adjustment of the diaphragm. Andrei was very precise and exacting with his choice of photography, and not only myself but also the whole troupe was so impressed by his personality that we complied voluntarily with his every request.' [From interview with Roberto Aita, 2001.]

1963        Pane e altro [Andrea Frezza] ?; short/25m; prod CSC

1963        Montagne russe [Luigi Perelli] ?; short/25m; prod CSC

1963        Gino Severini [Sandro Franchina] 16mm/b&w; doc/47m; cph: Jean Rouch, Bernard Zitzermann, Guido Cosulich, a.o.

1977        Maternale/Mother and Daughter [Giovanna Gagliardo] c

1977        Difficile morire [Umberto Silva] c

1977        Starcrash/The Adventures of Stella Star/Female Space Invaders [Lewis Coates = Luigi Cozzi] c; co-addph; ph:

                    Paul Beeson & Roberto D'Ettore

1979        Salto nel vuoto/Leap Into the Void [Marco Bellocchio] c

1980        Con... fusione [Piero Natoli] c

1981        Piso pisello/Sweet Pea [Peter Del Monte] c

1982        Gli occhi, la bocca/The Eyes, the Mouth [Marco Bellocchio] c

1982        Ehrengard [Emidio Greco] c

1982        Nostalghia/Nostalgia [Andrei Tarkovsky] b&w-c

1983        Stelli emigranti/Wandering Stars [Francesco Bortolini & Claudio Masenza] ?; doc/?m

1984        Enrico IV/Henry IV [Marco Bellocchio] c

1984        Kaos/Chaos [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c; 2uc: Roberto Locci; aph: Folco Quilici

1984        Blues metropolitano [Salvatori Piscicelli] c

1984        Elogio della pazzia [Roberto Aguerre] c

1985        Un complicato intrigo di donne, vicoli e delitti/Camorra [: The Naples Connection] [Lina Wertmüller] c

1985        Diavolo in corpo/Devil in the Flesh [Marco Bellocchio] c

1985        La Venexiana/The Venetian Woman [Mauro Bolognini] c

1986        Every Time We Say Goodbye [Moshe Mizrahi] c; add unit ph: Daniel Schneor

1986        Good Morning Babilonia/Good Morning Babylon [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c

1987        Havinck [Frans Weisz] c

1987        La visione del sabba/The Witches' Sabbath [Marco Bellocchio] c

1988        Francesco/St. Francis of Assisi [Liliana Cavani] c; 148m; ph; ph (3 weeks in Perugia): Ennio Guarnieri

1988        Paura e amore/Three Sisters/Love and Fear [Margarethe von Trotta] c

1988        Zoo [Cristina Comencini] c; cph: Alfio Contini

1988        Palombella rossa/Red Wood Pigeon [Nanni Moretti] c

1989        Il prete bello/Les p'tits vélos [Carlo Mazzacurati] c

1989        La Baule-les-Pins/C'est la vie [Diane Kurys] p/c

1989        Il sole anche di notte/Night Sun/Sunshine Even by Night [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] tvi/c

1989        I taràssachi/The Dandelions [Rocco Mortelliti, Francesco Martinotti & Fulvio Ottaviano] c; docudrama/65m; 10 seg

1989        In nome del popolo sovrano/In the Name of the Sovereign People [Luigi Magni] c; cph: Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli

1990        La condanna/The Condemnation/The Conviction [Marco Bellocchio] c

1990        La villa del venerdì/Husbands and Lovers/In Excess [Mauro Bolognini] c

1991        Le amiche del cuore/Close Friends [Michele Placido] c

1991        Johnny Stecchino/Johnny Toothpick [Roberto Benigni] c

1991        Caldo soffocante [Giovanna Gagliardo] c

1992        Fiorile/Wild Flower [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c

1992        Tra due risvegli/Between Two Awakenings [Amedeo Fago] c

1993        Caro diario/Dear Diary [Nanni Moretti] c

1994        Il teppista [Veronica Bilbao La Vieja = Veronica Perugini] c

1994        Con gli occhi chiusi/With Closed Eyes [Francesca Archibugi] c

1994        Roma dodici novembre 1994/Rome, November 12, 1994 [idea & co-ord: Francesco Maselli] 16mm/c; doc/33m; cph:

                    Alessandro D'Eva, Franco Di Giacomo, Sergio Salvati, Gianlorenzo Battaglia, a.o.

1995        Il principe di Homburg/Ritratto di un eroe romantico/The Prince of Homburg [Marco Bellocchio] c

1995        Compagna di viaggio/Travelling Companion [Peter Del Monte] c

1995        Le affinità elettive/The Elective Affinities [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c

1995        Scooter [Roberto Palmerini] c; short/20m

1995        La strategia della maschera [Rocco Mortelliti] replaced by ph Maurizio Dell'Orco

1996        Aprile/April [Nanni Moretti] c

1996        Il grido d'angoscia dell'uccello predatore - 20 tagli d'Aprile [Nanni Moretti] c; short/27m; 20 scenes shot for

                    'Aprile', but not used in the final film; released 2003

1997        Tu ridi/You're Laughing [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c

1997        I piccoli maestri/Little Teachers [Daniele Luchetti] c

1997        Santo Stefano [Angelo Pasquini] c; cph: Franco Di Giacomo

1998        La balia/The Nanny [Marco Bellocchio] c

1999        Tierra del fuego/Terra del fuoco [Miguel Littin] c

2000        La stanza del figlio/The Son's Room [Nanni Moretti] c 

2001        Nowhere [Luis Sepúlveda] c

2001        Bimba - È clonata una stella [Sabina Guzzanti] c

2003        La spettatrice/The Spectator [Paolo Franchi] c

2003        Nel mio amore/Answer Me [Susanna Tamaro] c

2004        Peperoni ripieni e pesci in faccia/Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers [Lina Wertmüller] c

2006        La masseria delle allodole/The Lark Farm [Paolo & Vittorio Taviani] c

1997        Oscar per due [Felice Farina] tvm

1998        La vita che verrà/Ombre sull'ofanto [Pasquale Pozzessere] 4-part miniseries

1965        I pugni in tasca/Fist in His Pocket [Marco Bellocchio] c.op; ph: Alberto Marrama

1965        Altissima pressione/Highest Pressure [Enzo Trapani] co-c.asst; ph: Mario Montuori

1966        Arizona Colt/Il pistolero di Arizona/Man from Nowhere [Michele Lupo] co-c.asst; ph: Guglielmo Mancori

1966        Morire gratis [Sandro Franchina] c.op; ph: Guido Cosulich de Pecine

1967        La morte ha fatto l'uovo/A Curious Way to Love/Death Lays an Egg [Giulio Questi] c.asst; ph: Dario Di Palma

1967        La Cina è vicina/China Is Near [Marco Bellocchio] co-c.op; ph: Tonino Delli Colli

1967        Grazie, zia [Salvatore Samperi] co-c.asst; ph: Aldo Scavarda

1968        Metti una sera a cena/Love Circle/One Night at Dinner [Giuseppe Patroni Griffi] c.asst; ph: Tonino Delli Colli

1968        C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West [Sergio Leone] c.asst; ph: Tonino Delli Colli

1968        Fermate il mondo... voglio scendere! [Giancarlo Cobelli] co-c.op; ph: Dario Di Palma

1969        Porcile/Pigpen/Pigsty [Pier Paolo Pasolini] c.asst; ph: Tonino Delli Colli, a.o.

1969        La strategia del ragno/The Spider's Stratagem [Bernardo Bertolucci; tvm] co-c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo & Vittorio

                    Storaro

1969        La moglie più bella/The Most Beautiful Wife [Damiano Damiani] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1970        Uccidete il vitello grasso e arrostitelo [Salvatore Samperi] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1971        4 mosche di velluto grigio/Four Flies on Grey Velvet [Dario Argento] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1971        Veruschka [- poesia di una donna] [Franco Rubartelli] co-c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1971        Nel nome del padre/In the Name of the Father [Marco Bellocchio] c.asst; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1971        Un'anguilla da trecento milioni/An Eel Worth 300 Million [Salvatore Samperi] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1972        Chi l'ha vista morire?/Who Saw Her Die?/The Child [Aldo Lado] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1973        La Tosca [Luigi Magni] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1973        Polvere di stelle/Stardust [Alberto Sordi] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1974        La sbandata [Alfredo Malfatti & Salvatore Samperi] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1974        La nottata [Tonino Cervi] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1975        L'anatra all'arancia/Duck in Orange Sauce [Luciano Salce] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1975        Marcia trionfale/Victory March [Marco Bellocchio] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1976        ...e tanta paura/Plot of Fear/Too Much Fear [Paolo Cavara] c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo

1976        Autostop rosso sangue/Death Drive/The Naked Prey/Hitch Hike/Hitchhike: Last House on the Left [Pasquale

                    Festa Campanile] co-c.op; ph: Franco Di Giacomo & Giuseppe Ruzzolini