Italian director Tinto Brass, known for erotic cinema, dies in Rome aged 93

Death and family

Tinto Brass, the Italian filmmaker best known for his erotic cinema, died in Rome on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, at the age of 93. Open reports that he died at his home in the Isola Farnese district of the capital, while Rai News puts the death in the morning, around 10:30. The news came from his wife, Caterina Varzi, and from his children, Bonifacio and Beatrice Brass, who spoke to ANSA. The family has said the funeral will be a strictly private ceremony. Born in Milan on 26 March 1933 as Giovanni Brass, he was known to the public simply as 'Tinto'.

Career from avant-garde to erotic cinema

Open says Brass started out in law before turning to film, and that he worked as a director, screenwriter, editor and writer. Il Giornale reports that he took his law degree at the University of Ferrara in 1957 and then worked as an archivist at the Cinematheque Française in Paris, where he drew close to the Nouvelle Vague. ANSA credits him with avant-garde pictures in several genres during the 1960s and 1970s that drew favourable reviews. Rai News describes the period before his erotic work as one of avant-garde, Nouvelle Vague and experimentation. His best-known films came later, among them Salon Kitty (1976), La chiave (1983), the controversial Caligola (1984), Miranda (1985), Capriccio (1987), Paprika (1991) and Monella (1998). ANSA also lists Trasgredire and Così fan tutte, which was released in English as All Ladies Do It.

Il Giornale also quotes him rejecting the idea that his films were minor work.

“They call them B-movies, but for me they never were.”

Archive interview and public image

La Stampa recalls an archive video recorded on 23 February 2016 at the Vittoriano in Rome, during the presentation of the exhibition 'Uno sguardo libero'. Asked which female politician he would most like to cast in a film, he named Maria Elena Boschi, then minister in the Renzi government. He said:

“I would really like to work with Maria Elena Boschi.”

At the same event he also spoke about Romy Schneider, Claudia Koll and Alba Parietti. Il Giornale expects his films to be re-evaluated, including by critics who never admired them.

Funeral and what the reports agree on

The family has asked for a private funeral, and none of the reports gives a date or location for the ceremony. Several outlets, including Tgcom24 and La Stampa, carried the family's announcement with the same core details, so the basic facts are consistent across sources. Il Giornale also recounts his childhood in Venice, which he described in his own recollections. The account of his early years is therefore based on his own words rather than on documents.