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Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica was a major figure in the neorealist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. His landmark films, such as "Bicycle Thieves" (1948), "Umberto D." (1952), and "Shoeshine" (1946), depicted the social and economic hardships of post-war Italy with a blend of realism and humanism. De Sica's work had a profound influence on subsequent filmmakers and is considered a cornerstone of Italian cinema.