Lina Wertmüller (1928-2021) was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. Known for her ability to blend sex, politics, farce and tragedy, she spent her career creating disruptive, deeply idiosyncratic films.
Lina Wertmüller (1928-2021) was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. Known for her ability to blend sex, politics, farce and tragedy, she spent her career creating disruptive, deeply idiosyncratic films.
History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Sundus Hassan, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. This is Womanica.
This month, we’ve been talking about visionaries -- women who made profound contributions to the fields of photography, film, sculpture, and the performing arts. Many of these women were radical artists who pushed conceptual boundaries within and beyond the art world.
Today’s visionary – our final one of the month, and the year – passed away only a few weeks ago, at the age of 93. She was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. But that was hardly her only groundbreaking accomplishment.
Known for her ability to blend sex, politics, farce and tragedy, she spent her career creating disruptive, deeply idiosyncratic films.
Let’s talk about Lina Wertmuller.
Lina Wertmuller was born Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spañol von Brauchich in Rome, in 1928.
Despite her last name – courtesy of her Swiss great-great-grandfather – Lina was very much Italian. She was born during Mussolini’s fascist rule. Her father, Frederico, was a lawyer, and something of a tyrant within their household. He and Lina fought constantly.
After World War II, Lina enrolled in law school to appease her father — a surprising move, given that she’d been expelled from 15 different schools previously. But Lina’s real passion was art, and while in law school she also began classes at the Academy of Theater.
Drama soon won out, and Lina graduated from the Academy in 1951. For the next ten years, she built a career in theater. She created an experimental theater troupe with some friends, which failed because they refused to charge for their performances. She toured with a puppet group, performing works by Franz Kafka instead of fairy tales.
In 1961, Lina met the filmmaker Frederico Fellini. It would be a life changing encounter for Lina, one that opened up a whole new world of creative possibility.
Fellini soon offered Lina a job as the assistant director on his film 8 1/2. Shortly after, thanks to financial and staffing support from Fellini, Lina was able to direct a script she had written. The Lizards, released in 1963, was Lina’s directorial debut.
Over the next few years, Lina continued to gain recognition in Italy. She directed several films and television musicals. It was during this period that she met both her husband, Enrico Job, and Giancarlo Giannini, an actor and collaborator who would go on to star in much of her work.
In 1972, Lina had her first international hit with ‘The Seduction of Mimi.’ She wrote and directed the film, which follows a young, Italian laborer as he slowly loses his moral compass. For this, Lina won Best Director at Cannes Film Festival. The next year, her muse, Giancarlo Giannini, won Best Actor at Cannes, for Lina’s film ‘Love and Anarchy,’ about a man who tries to assassinate Mussolini.
In 1974, Lina wrote and directed arguably her most well-known work, Swept Away. But it’s her 1975 film, Seven Beauties, that earned her groundbreaking Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.
Now, Lina’s career was not without controversy. Seven Beauties, for example, follows a man into a World War II prison camp, where he does whatever he can to survive. The film involves graphic violence and sexual assault, a common theme throughout Lina’s films. Feminists were vocally critical of her portrayals. And Lina repeatedly shot back that she didn’t consider herself a feminist.
Though she identified as a socialist, Lina’s characters’ own political leanings were often unclear. Critics and audiences alike struggled to find idealism, or morals. As she once said in an interview, "Irony is my faithful companion. It helps me to underline vices and defects of the human being."
In 2019, Lina was awarded an honorary Oscar. And in her speech, which was translated by actress Isabella Rosselini, Lina made a characteristically disruptive move: she decided to give the Oscar a feminine name. Anna.
Lina died on December 9, 2021. She was 93 years old.
All month, we’ve honored incredible, artistic visionaries.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. And another special thanks to Alesandra Tejeda who curated this month’s theme.
Happy New Year and talk to you on Monday!