In 1974, Scola enjoyed international success with We All Loved Each Other So Much (C'eravamo tanto amati), a wide fresco of post-World War II Italian life and politics, dedicated to fellow director Vittorio De Sica.

[3] In 1976, he won the Prix de la mise en scène at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival for Brutti, sporchi e cattivi.

Scola made further successful films, including A Special Day (1977), That Night In Varennes (1982), What Time Is It?

A lifelong supporter of left-wing politics, Scola was part of the shadow cabinet of the Italian Communist Party in 1989 as Minister of Culture.

[4] In 2009, Scola signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.