Federico Fellini (1920-1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, exerted a huge influence on the contemporary cinema. More than any other filmmaker of his era, Fellini transformed the realities of his life into the surrealism of his art. Began as an exponent of poetic neorealism, later he became the cinema's undisputed master of psychological expressionism and surrealist fantasy. His absurdist sense of comedy set him squarely apart from his contemporaries and at the peak of his career his work adopted a distinctively poetic, flamboyant, and influential style so unique that only the term "Felliniesque" could accurately describe it.
Four of Fellini’s films won "Oscars" for best foreign-language film: "La Strada" (1956), "The Nights of Cabiria" (1957), "8½" (1963) and "Amarcord" (1974). In 1993 Federico Fellini received an honorary “Oscar” in recognition of his cinematic accomplishments.