Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing Il Posto (1961) and The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1977), which won the Palme d'Or. Throughout his career Olmi blended Italian neorealism with Christian humanism, with many of his films following humble characters through the spiritual trials of harsh conditions.
Olmi was born to a working-class Catholic family in Bergamo, in the Lombardy region in northern Italy, and raised in nearby Treviglio.
When Olmi was three years old, his family moved to Milan, where his parents found work with the utility company Edison-Volta. At age 16, Olmi began working there as a messenger. Olmi was initially interested in architecture, but was inspired to pursue cinema by the works of Roberto Rossellini. He began taking art classes and convinced Edison-Volta to start a documentary division. As head of the new division, Olmi made as many as 40 corporate documentaries.
Olmi's first feature film, Time Stood Still began as a corporate documentary about a hydroelectric dam.
Olmi's first scripted film was the acclaimed Il Posto, which follows a young man entering corporate life. Parts of the story were drawn from Olmi's experiences working in Milan. The film starred non-professional actor Loredana Detto, who Olmi later married.
Following from his humble start in corporate documentaries, Olmi typically helmed minimal productions, often writing, directing, filming, and editing the films himself.
Perhaps his best known film is The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. The film drew heavily on Olmi's grandmother's stories about peasant life in agricultural regions of Italy. In 1983 his film Walking, Walking was screened out of competition at Cannes. In 1988, his La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker), based on the novella by Joseph Roth and starring Rutger Hauer, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival as well as a David di Donatello award.
In 1982, Olmi founded Ipotesi Cinema, a film school in the village of Bassano del Grappa.
His The Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi) also won a David di Donatello award.
1978: Palme d'Or for The Tree of Wooden Clogs
1988: Golden Lion for The Legend of the Holy Drinker
1962: Best Director for Il Posto
1989: Best Director for The Legend of the Holy Drinker
2002: Best Director for The Profession of Arms
1979: Best Director for The Tree of Wooden Clogs
1989: Best Director for The Legend of the Holy Drinker
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)