Federico Fellini Knight Grand Cross January 20 1920 October 31 1993 was an Italian film director and screenwriter Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century Personal and highly idiosyncratic visions of society Fellinis films are a unique combination of memory dreams fantasy surrealism and desire The adjectives Fellinian and Felliniesque are synonymous with any kind of extravagant fanciful even baroque image in the cinema and in art in general In a career spanning almost fifty years Fellini won the Palme dOr for La Dolce Vita was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and directed four motion pictures that won Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Language Film In 1993 he was awarded an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles