Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, also known as Leo Towers and as Babsy, was an Argentine film director, producer and screenwriter.
Background
Born as Leopoldo Torres Nilsson (he later changed his paternal surname from Torres to Torre) was the son of Argentine pioneer film director Leopoldo Torres Ríos, with whom he collaborated between 1939 and 1949. His mother was an Argentinian citizen of Swedish descent.
Career
He debuted in 1947 with the short El muro. Torre Nilsson"s first full-length film, El crimen de Oribe (1950), was an adaptation of Adolfo Bioy Casares"s novel El perjurio de la nieve. In 1954 he directed Días de odio, based on Jorge Luis Borges"s short story Emma Zunz.
He also directed films about icons of Argentine history and culture:, about the main character of Argentina"s national poem.
, about General José de San Martín. And, about Martín Miguel de Güemes.
lieutenant was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. Torre Nilsson was married to writer Beatriz Guido, whose work served as inspiration and who worked alongside him in many of his scripts.
He is acknowledged as the first Argentine film director to be critically acclaimed outside the country, making Argentina"s film production known in important international festivals.
He died of cancer in his native Buenos Aires in 1978, at the age of 54. He was buried at the Cementerio Británico in Buenos Aires. A novelized biography of Torre Nilsson, El Gran Babsy (), by Mónica Martín, was published in 1993.
Another biography, Leopoldo Torre Nilsson: Imagen y Poesía () was published in 2006 by the newspaper Louisiana Nación and the Aguilar editorial house.