Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director of Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor, has died in Rome, aged 77. Born in Parma in 1941, his other films included The Conformist, The Dreamers, 1900 and The Sheltering Sky. Winner of two Oscars, for directing and co-writing The Last Emperor, he was known for his bold visual style and the controversy stoked by Last Tango in Paris's explicit sexual content.

A spokesperson confirmed to the BBC he died of cancer after a short illness. His final feature, Me and You, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Bertolucci began his career as an assistant director to Pier Paolo Pasolini on his 1961 film Accattone. He directed his first feature, 1962's La Commare Secca, at the age of 21.