Biography
With the end of WWII, exiled from Tito's regime in 1945, he first attended university in Padua and then lived in Genoa, where he started his cinematographic career. In 1951 he moved to Rome where the Cinecitta' studios were the center of the European film industry, and began his activity as cameraman with director of photography Gianni Di Venanzo. This collaboration lasted until 1960, giving rise to movies with directors such as Carlo Lizzani ("Achtung banditi", "Cronache di poveri amanti"), Mario Monicelli ("Big Deal in Madonna Street" -- academy award nomination for best foreign-language film), Michelangelo Antonioni ("Le amiche", "Il grido"), Mario Camerini Alberto Lattuada Dino Risi Francesco Maselli Francesco Rosi Aglauco Casadio and Federico Fellini. In 1960 Erico Menczer became director of photography and has since made more than 100 movies. He has worked with many directors, among whom Luciano Salce ("Il federale", "La voglia matta", "Il sindacalista", "Fantozzi" -- top grossing film in Italy for several years), Carlo Lizzani ("L'oro di Roma", La vita agra"), Marco Bellocchio ("Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina"), Francesco Prosperi ("Tecnica di un omicidio"), Dario Argento ("Il gatto a nove code"), Lucio Fulci ("White fang", "Operazione S. Pietro"), Giuliano Montaldo ("The untouchables"), Alberto De Martino ("Holocaust 2000"), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Dino Risi Vittorio De Sisti, Nino Manfredi Giorgio Bontempi, Tinto Brass and Pupi Avati. In his long career he has also contributed to many TV series for Italian public (RAI) and private (Fininvest) networks, and for American public television (Mark Twain's "Innocents abroad"). His documentary film "Piccola arena Casartelli" won the "Leone d'Oro" (Golden Lion) award at the Venice Film Festival.
