Valerio Zurlini (19 March 1926 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian stage and film director and screenwriter. During his law studies in Rome , he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance . Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party . He filmed short documentaries in the immediate post-war period before he directed his first feature film in 1954, The Girls of San Frediano . In 1958, Zurlini won the Nastro d'Argento together with Leonardo Benvenuti , Pi ...