Franco Rosso | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1941-08-29)29 August 1941 Turin,Piedmont, Italy |
| Died | 9 December 2016(2016-12-09) (aged 75) |
| Education | Camberwell School of Art Royal College of Art |
| Occupations | Film producer and director |
| Notable work | Babylon (1980) |
Franco Rosso (29 August 1941 – 9 December 2016)[1][2] was an Italian-born film producer and director based in England. He is known for making films aboutBlack British culture, and in particular for the 1980 cult filmBabylon, about Black Jamaican youth in south London,[3] which was backed by theNational Film Finance Corporation.[4]
Rosso was born in Turin,Piedmont, Italy, but grew up in London, where his parents (who had beenFiat workers in Turin) brought him when he was aged eight.[3] After attendingcomprehensive school inBattersea,[3] Rosso went on toCamberwell School of Art and theRoyal College of Art (at which he was a contemporary ofIan Dury).[5][6]
He was assistant onKen Loach's 1969 filmKes,[7] and Rosso's subsequent career as a filmmaker encompassed feature films, as well as television documentaries and series, working as an editor, producer, director and writer.[8] Following early productions at the Royal College of Art, Rosso made his notable directorial debut with the documentary The Mangrove Nine, about the resistance to police attacks on the popularMangrove restaurant in the early 1970s, scripted byJohn La Rose and narrated byAndrew Salkey.[9][10] According toMartin Stellman's obituary of Rosso,The Mangrove Nine film was "so uncompromising in its portrayal of police racism that the BBC delayed its transmission. For several years afterwards, Rosso could not get work with the corporation and firmly believed he had been blacklisted."[2]
In 1981, Rosso won anEvening Standard Award for Most Promising Film-Maker for his dramaBabylon,[11] which was called byNew Britain fanzine "one of the best British films ever made, not just one of the best 'Black' or 'Youth' films".[10]