<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $20 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $229.2 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella (la ˈviːta ɛ bˈbɛlla)) is a 1997 Italian comedy - drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami . Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian book shop owner, who employs his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp . The film was partially inspired by the book In the End, I Beat Hitler by Rubino Romeo Salmonì and by Benigni's father, who spent two years in a German labour camp during World War II . </P> <P> The film was a critical and financial success, despite criticisms of using the subject matter for comedic purposes . It won the Grand Prix at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, nine David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film, in Italy, and three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Benigni . </P>

Who is the director of life is beautiful