Count Uberto Pasolini Dall'Onda[1] (born 1 May 1957[citation needed]) is an Italian film producer, director, and formerinvestment banker known for producing the 1997 filmThe Full Monty and directing and producing the 2008 filmMachan and the 2013 filmStill Life.
Pasolini was born in Rome in 1957 to Pier Maria Pasolini dell’Onda and Violante Visconti di Modrone. He is an Italiancount, and a grandnephew of filmmakerLuchino Visconti through his mother. He grew up in Milan.[2][3][4]
He wished to work on the filmThe Killing Fields, was interviewed byDavid Puttnam, and was rejected. When Puttnam went to Bangkok to shoot the film, Pasolini bought his own ticket and presented himself on set seeking work. Puttnam was impressed by this persistence and brought him on board the project.[7] Pasolini subsequently acted aslocation scout forThe Killing Fields (1984),The Frog Prince, andThe Mission (1986).[8] He was an assistant director with producer's duties onThe Frog Prince[9] (for which he also assisted in translations while shooting in Paris),[10] andThe Mission.[7]
Pasolini moved to Los Angeles when Puttnam was appointed as head ofColumbia Pictures, and was vice president of production, and in 1988 oversaw production of bothDavid Mamet'sThings Change andEmir Kusturica'sTime of the Gypsies. Later in 1988, Pasolini returned to London and rejoined Enigma Films to serve asassociate producer onMeeting Venus (1991),[8] and as producer onA Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia for an episode of the TV seriesGreat Performances.[11] In 1994, Pasolini left Enigma and founded Redwave Films as a production company to produce the filmPalookaville, for which he chose David Epstein to write the screenplay andAlan Taylor to direct.[12]
In 1997, Pasolini received international recognition as producer of the filmThe Full Monty.[13] He conceived the idea for the film and choseSimon Beaufoy to write the screenplay andPeter Cattaneo to direct.[14] In 2000, Pasolini asked Aileen Ritchie to direct[15] the William Ivory filmThe Closer You Get,[16] and in 2001 producedThe Emperor's New Clothes.[4]
Pasolini's next film was inspired by a real event.[17] In 2004, in order to getvisas granting them access to an international handball tournament being held in Bavaria, 23 Sri Lankan men fooled the German embassy in Colombo into believing they were the Sri Lanka National Handball team.[18] The men then travelled to Germany on the pretext of taking part in the sports tournament, but were in fact seeking to emigrate.[19] They postponed their escape and actually took part in several handball matches held by theAsian-German Sports Exchange Program before vanishing.[18] When Pasolini heard of the incident, he decided to make it into a film to promote discussion on the issue ofillegal immigration,[17] and in 2008 he released the critically acclaimedMachan, marking his directorial debut.[16][17]
In 1995, Pasolini married the composerRachel Portman, with whom he has worked on several of his film projects.[8] The two have three children.[22][23][1] They divorced in 2006.[citation needed]
^Yoram Allon; Del Cullen; Hannah Patterson (2001).Contemporary British and Irish film directors: a wallflower critical guide. Wallflower Press.ISBN1-903364-21-3.
