Alessandro Blasetti

Alessandro Blasetti was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film Quattro passi fra le nuvole. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during the Fascist era. He is sometimes known as the father of Italian cinema because of his role in reviving the struggling industry in the late 1920s.

Blasetti was born in Rome, where he also died. After studying law at university, Blasetti chose to become a journalist and film critic. He worked for several film magazines and led a campaign for national film production, which had largely ceased by this point. In 1919 he made a brief foray into acting when he appeared as an extra in Mario Caserinis Tortured Soul.

Source: Wikipedia