Cineasta italiano nacido en Bolonia. Junto a su hermano produjo, escribió y dirigió una de las primeras películas, Balsamus, l'uomo si Satana (1968), comedia fantástica. Tras La mazurka del barone della santa e del fico fiorone (1974) y Bordella (1975), dirigió dos obras inspiradas en las leyendas del Po: La casa dalle finestre che ridono (1976) y Le strelle nel fosso (1979). Dirigió dos seriales autobiográficos para la TV: Jazz Band (1978) y Cinema!!! (1979). Sus siguiente películas fueron, Ayúdame a soñar (1981), Dancing Paradise (1982), Zeder (1983), Una excursión escolar (1983), Noitre (1984), Impiegati (1985) y muchas más.

Pupi (Giuseppe) Avati was born in Bologna in 1938. After attending school and studying Political Science at the University of Florence, he started working at a frozen food company. At the same time, he developed a passion for jazz, becoming a proficient 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.[3]

Although he initially intended to be a professional musician, Avati felt he lacked the necessary talent. In the mid-1960s, he decided to dedicate himself to cinema after seeing Federico Fellini's 8½ and its portrait of the role of a director.[4] 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.