Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (Bologna, 3 November 1938–) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Pupi Avati was born in Bologna in 1938. After attending school and studying Political Science at the University of Bologna, he started working at a frozen food company. At the same time, he developed a passion for jazz, becoming an amateur clarinetist. In the second half of the 1950s, he formed and played in the Doctor Dixie Jazz Band, of which Lucio Dalla was also a member. Although he initially intended to be a professional musician, Avati lacked the necessary talent. In the mid 1960s, he decided to dedicate himself to cinema, his other love, after seeing Federico Fellini's 8½ and its portrait of the role of a director. Avati's passion for music, as well as his love for his hometown, which was the setting of many of his films, were to become recurrent themes found in his productions. His filmography as a director includes almost forty films and television works. As a screenwriter, Avati wrote or co-authored the majority of his movies, as well as screenplays for other directors.