Giuseppe Petitto, born July 11, 1969 and died on September 2, 2015, he was an Italian film director.

A Film director graduate of the National Film school in Rome, Italy (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia), also holding a bachelor’s degree in Law, he has served as a director, producer, and editor on several short and feature-length films both documentary and fiction, some of which have gained critical International acclaim.

Mostly active in human-rights related filmmaking, his former works have focused on children’s rights abuse, civilian war victims, mental disorders, international politics, corruption and were produced in collaboration with European and American broadcasters such as BBC, ZDF, RAI, PBS, TVO, YLE, CANAL+.

Among other International Awards, he received in New York City the Human Rights Watch Nestor Almendros Award for courage and commitment in human rights filmmaking.

On June 13, 2001 at the Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Centre in New York, he received the Human Rights Watch Nestor Almendros Award for courage and commitment in human rights filmmaking.

Presenting the award to the filmmaker was venerable U.S. director Arthur Penn, who praised the documentary, saying, “Making a documentary like this, takes another kind of courage.

It takes the courage to say that this story is not known widely enough… This story needs to be told.

This is a film that never flinches; I promise you.” Source: Human Rights Watch Giuseppe Petitto at work with Wim Wenders.

He received a public endorsement by Martin Scorsese that read: “This is a brave, intelligent, tough movie that must be seen, now more than ever.

Much more than just a piece of reporting, it is a very human portrait of the people of Afghanistan, and the horror of living in a state of never-ending war.”