Salvatores became known to a larger Italian cinema audience primarily through the comedies "Marrakech Express" (1989) and "Turné" (1990), which dealt with his own political and social experiences.
He made his first feature film under the same title in 1983, which received an award in Venice. Salvatores became known to a larger Italian cinema audience primarily through the comedies "Marrakech Express" (1989) and "Turné" (1990), which dealt with his own political and social experiences. The director made a name for himself in international film with "Mediterraneo" (1991). The tragicomic film received an Oscar for best foreign contribution and, against the backdrop of the Italian military occupation of a Greek island during the Second World War, depicts the rapprochement between the occupiers and the locals. Salvatore's next film "Puerto Escondido" (1992) is set in Italy and Latin America. With "Sud" (1993), the director finally presented a sensitive study of the Italian south, his true home.