Ettore Scola: Italian film director dies aged 84 Published duration 20 January 2016

image copyright AFP image caption Ettore Scola was a "master" of the screen according to Italian PM Matteo Renzi

The double Oscar nominated Italian director and writer Ettore Scola has died aged 84, Italian media reports.

He had been in a coma since Sunday after being admitted to the cardiac surgery unit of a hospital in Rome, according to the reports.

His 1974 work A Special Day, which he wrote and directed, received Best Foreign Film and Best Actor nominations for star Marcello Mastroianni.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Scola was a screen "master".

His death left a "huge void in Italian culture", Mr Renzi tweeted (in Italian).

Scola directed 41 films and wrote the screenplay for almost 90, according to the Internet Movie Database.

He performed both roles in A Special Day, which saw Mastroianni and Sophia Loren develop a relationship against the backdrop of fascist 1930s Italy.

Other works include We All Loved Each Other So Much, The Family and Ugly, Dirty and Bad - for which he won best director at the Cannes film festival in 1976.