Pupi (Giuseppe) Avati was born in Bologna in 1938. After attending school and studying Political Science at the University of Florence, he started working at a frozen food company. At the same time, he developed a passion for jazz, becoming a proficient clarinetist. In the second half of the 1950s, he formed and played in the Doctor Dixie Jazz Band, of which Lucio Dalla was also a member.[3] Although he initially intended to be a professional musician, Avati felt he lacked the necessary talent. In the mid-1960s, he decided to dedicate himself to cinema after seeing Federico Fellini's 8½ and its portrait of the role of a director.[4] Avati's passion for music, as well as his love for his hometown, which was the setting of many of his films, were to become recurrent themes found in his productions.

Filmography

• 2026The Warmth Of Dance — Director, Screenplay, Idea, Story, Script, Writer
• 2025La nostra magnifica ossessione - Bernardo Bertolucci e la sua generazione
• 2025Painted Screams — Sé stesso
• 2025The American Backyard — Director, Screenplay, Novel, Story
• 2024Alberto Sordi Secret
• 2024Nato il sei ottobre — Director, Screenplay
• 2024Un Natale a casa Croce — Director, Writer
• 2023Biasanòt
• 2023La quattordicesima domenica del tempo ordinario — Director, Writer
• 2022Dante — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 2022Souvenir d'Italie
• 2021Lei mi parla ancora — Executive Producer, Writer, Director
• 2021Pupi Avati, la tavola racconta
• 2021Vorrei sparire senza morire — Sé stesso
• 2020Lili Marlene - La guerra degli italiani
• 2019The Devil of Venice — Story, Screenplay, Director
• 2018Il fulgore di Dony — Writer, Director
• 2015Laura's Wedding — Director, Story, Teleplay
• 2015Sun in My Eyes — Story, Director, Teleplay
• 2015The Day of the Two Holy Popes
• 2014A Golden Boy — Director, Screenplay
• 2013The Bad Child — Director, Story, Screenplay
• Un matrimonio — Director, Writer, Creator
• 2013Welcome Mr. President! — Potere Forte
• 2011Se sei così, ti dico sì — Producer
• 2011The Big Heart of Girls — Director, Story, Screenplay
• 2010A Second Childhood — Director, Writer
• 2010Flaiano: il meglio è passato
• 2010Il figlio più piccolo — Director, Writer
• 2009The Friends at the Margherita Café — Director, Writer, Producer, Idea, Story, Screenplay
• 2008Giovanna's Father — Director, Writer
• 2007A Dinner for Them to Meet — Director, Screenplay
• 2007The Hideout — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 2005Ma quando arrivano le ragazze? — Director, Writer, Idea, Script, Story, Screenplay
• 2005The Second Wedding Night — Director, Writer
• 2004Christmas Rematch — Director, Writer, Story, Idea, Screenplay
• 2003Incantato — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 2001Knights of the Quest — Director, Writer, Screenplay, Novel, Idea, Story
• 1999Midsummer Night Dance — Director
• 1997The Best Man — Director, Writer
• 1997The Mayor — Producer
• 1996Arcane Sorcerer — Director, Writer
• 1996Festival — Director, Writer, Idea, Screenplay, Story
• Night Voices — Screenplay, Creator
• 1994Declarations of Love — Director
• 1994The Childhood Friend — Director, Writer
• 1994The Room Next Door — Writer
• 1993Magnificat — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1992Brothers and Sisters — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1991Bix — Director, Writer
• 1991Where the Night Begins — Writer
• E' proibito ballare — Supervising Art Director
• 1989The Story of Boys and Girls — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1988Sposi — Director, Story, Writer, Editor
• 1987The Last Minute — Director, Writer
• 1986Christmas Present — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1985Graduation Party — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1985Impiegati — Director, Story, Screenplay
• 1984The Three of Us — Director, Story, Screenplay
• 1983A School Trip — Director, Writer
• 1983Revenge of the Dead — Director, Screenplay, Story
• Che fai... ridi? — Director
• 1981Help Me Dream — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1980Macabre — Writer
• 1979Cinema!!! — Director, Writer
• 1979The Stars in the Ditch — Director, Story, Screenplay
• Jazz band — Director
• 1977All The Souls... Except the Dead — Director, Writer
• 1976House of Pleasure for Women — Director, Writer
• 1976Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom — Writer
• 1976The House with Laughing Windows — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1976The Mistress is Served — Screenplay
• 1975Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza — Screenplay
• 1975The Baron's Mazurka — Director, Screenplay, Story
• 1974The Kiss — Writer
• 1970Blood Relations — Story, Screenplay, Director
• 1970Thomas — Story, Screenplay, Director
• 1968Satanik — First Assistant Director

Appearances as themselves (18)

• 2025L'incanto — Self
• Quelli che il cinema — Self
• 2024Stolen Moments — Self
• 2022La Piazza che verrà, Bologna e il Cinema — Self
• 2022La voglia matta di vivere — Self
• 2020Italy Possessed: A Brief History of Exorcist Rip-Offs — Himself
• 2020Paolo Conte, Come Away with Me — Self
• 2019Boia, maschere e segreti: l’horror italiano degli anni sessanta — Self
• 2018Bava Puzzle — Himself
• 201427 aprile Racconto di un evento — Self
• 2014C'era una volta il prossimamente — Self
• 2014Gian Luigi Rondi - Vita, cinema, passione — Self
• 2011Noi c'eravamo — Self
• 2010Portrait Of My Father — Self
• 2009Pietro Germi - The Good, The Beautiful and The Bad — Self
• 2004Pupi Avati: Questa sera vi porto al cinema — Self
• 2002Venticinque anni di culto — Self - Director
• Domenica In — Self