Born in Ravenna and raised in Rimini,[1][2] Zavoli joined RAI, Italy's state broadcaster, as a sports radio journalist in 1947.

[1][6] Zavoli's notable historical documentaries included Nascita di una dittatura (1972),[6] which won the Saint-Vincent Prize [it],[3][7] and La notte della Repubblica (1989–90), which documented the Years of Lead.

[3][12] Zavoli died in Rome on 4 August 2020, aged 96,[12] and was laid to rest near Riminese filmmaker Federico Fellini, a close friend, in the Monumental Cemetery of Rimini.

[17] In the late 1940s, Zavoli directed Città Nuova,[18] a weekly newspaper dedicated to discussing Rimini's post-war reconstruction, to which Renato Zangheri, future mayor of Bologna, also contributed.

[1] Zavoli's early documentaries included Scartamento ridotto (1952),[1] exploring local views about the replacement of the steam engine on the Rimini–Novafeltria railway with oil-powered railcars.

[20] His Notturno a Cnosso (1953), produced with Giovanni Battista Angioletti, documented a nocturnal tourist itinerary in Crete, including the island's mythology and history; the documentary won the 1953 Prix Italia.

[5] Zavoli won a second Prix Italia in 1958 for Clausura (1957), exploring support and criticism for enclosed nuns, which included interviews through the grates of their enclosures.

[3] While making documentaries on current affairs, he also produced notable historical investigative documentaries, including Nascita di una dittatura (1972),[6] a six-part series documenting the birth of Fascist Italy which won the Saint-Vincent Prize [it],[3][7] and La notte della Repubblica (1989–90), documenting the Years of Lead in eighteen episodes.

[3][14] Writing for La Stampa in 1977, Furio Colombo said that Zavoli's success was attributable to his respectful portrayal of political opponents, a quality that was rare in the Italian press at the time.

[14] He disliked intellectual sloppiness, which he called talking dialect (parlare dialetto), leading him to encourage doubt and critical inquiry against assumed certainties.

[10] The first bill he introduced, on 17 October 2001, called for annual contributions to the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani [it] and an institute in Rome dedicated to Eugenio Montale.

On 12 October 2006, following Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg lecture, Zavoli spoke in the senate on "the treasures of harmony and wisdom that [Islam] continues to reserve also to the civic and cultural dimensions of tradition".

[8] Zavoli published books on Rimini's local history, including its post-liberation years and an autobiographical work on his memories of the Italian resistance.

[37][43] Its celebrants included Nunzio Galantino and Giulio Albanese [it], and senior figures in Italian politics and telecommunications were present, including journalists Gianni Letta, presenter Renzo Arbore, and politicians Walter Veltroni, Franco Carraro, Silvia Costa, Maria Elena Boschi, Anna Finocchiaro, Valeria Fedeli, and Luigi Zanda.

[43] In accordance with his wishes,[2][12] on 8 August 2020, Zavoli was buried a few steps from Fellini and his wife, Giulietta Masina, in the Monumental Cemetery of Rimini,[13] in a ceremony presided by the diocesan bishop.

[38] Il ragazzo e la città (2023), a concert-show written and directed by Massimo Roccaforte, was performed at the Amintore Galli Theatre on the occasion of the centenary of Zavoli's birth.

[44][34] Il sole tramonta alle spalle (2023), a film by Mauro Bartoli featuring two unpublished interviews with Zavoli, was also screened at Rimini's Fulgor Cinema for the centenary.