Funeral held for Blow-Up director

Antonioni's widow Enrica Fico led the mourners

Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni, who died on Monday at the age of 94.

The square outside Ferrara's San Giorgio cathedral in northern Italy was filled with local residents.

His widow Enrica Fico and film luminaries flanked the wooden casket during the service inside the building.

Antonioni - best known for the 1966 film Blow-Up - was laid to rest next to his parents in the town's cemetery.

German film-maker Wim Wenders said he had gone "beyond the clouds", referring to the 1995 film Al di la Delle Nuvole which he co-directed with the Italian director.

"Michelangelo introduced me to Ferrara," Wenders said. "I realised how much light came to his mind and to his eyes from this place.

"It's hard to summarise what the maestro left. Certainly, he created a new image of the 20th-century man," he added.

Antonioni (centre) released his first film in 1950

Many local residents attended the ceremony, which included eulogies by Fico and Italian poet and screenwriter Tonino Guerra.

On Wednesday, Antonioni's body laid in state at Rome's City Hall where fans queued up to pay their last respects.

"We have lost a great man, first of all, and a great artist," said former La Scala theatre ballerina, Carla Fracci. "We will miss him."

Actress Daniela Silvero, who starred in the director's 1982 film Identification of a Woman, brought flowers to lay by his coffin.

"He was a great friend," she said. "For cinema, especially Italian cinema, he represented everything."

Oscars

Antonioni's portrayal of modern angst and alienation won him a cult following among cinema-goers.

After winning favourable reviews at the Cannes Film Festival with 1957's The Cry, he scored his first real international success in 1960 with L'Avventura.

Antonioni's coffin laid in state at Rome's City Hall

He gained two Oscar nominations for the iconic release, and was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his life's work in 1995.

The Oscar was presented by Hollywood star Jack Nicholson, who played the lead in his 1974 film The Passenger.

"His look was very special, truly unique," his widow told reporters at the ceremony, where a large screen showed black and white footage of Antonioni around his film sets and backstage.

Antonioni's death so shortly after that of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman leaves European cinema without two of its most significant personalities.