The opening film of the 17th edition of the Bif&st – Bari International Film&TV Festival, directed by Oscar Iarussi, will be Il Dio dell’amore, a new comedy about contemporary love directed by Francesco Lagi.
Il Dio dell’amore will be premiered in Bari on Saturday 21 March at the Teatro Petruzzelli, as part of the “Rosso di Sera” section, in the presence of director Francesco Lagi and the cast, including Vanessa Scalera, Vinicio Marchioni, Isabella Ragonese and Francesco Colella, before hitting Italian cinemas on 26 March, distributed by Vision Distribution.
The film explores the oldest and most powerful of emotions, Love, as seen through the curious and inquisitive eyes of an exceptional mentor: the great man of letters, master of seduction and poet-expert on love, Ovid, played by Francesco Colella.
The film, written by Enrico Audenino and Francesco Lagi, stars Anna Bellato, Enrico Borello, Benedetta Cimatti, Chiara Ferrara, Corrado Fortuna, Vinicio Marchioni, Isabella Ragonese and Vanessa Scalera, with Francesco Colella in the role of Ovid and music by Stefano Bollani.
The God of Love is a production by Cattleya – part of ITV Studios – BartlebyFilm and Vision Distribution in collaboration with SKY and the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual Media – a film produced and distributed with the support of the Fund for the Development of Investment in Cinema and Audiovisual Media.
SYNOPSIS
Il Dio dell’Amore is a journey, or an exploration, into romantic relationships. A story about the emotional destinies of a group of people, about their ways of loving, of touching, of connecting with one another. It is an ensemble piece with an ironic, smiling yet also bitter tone, depicting humanity entangled in the chaos of feelings that have always stirred and amazed us. The characters are all linked by romantic relationships and, when viewed together, form part of a dense tapestry, a weave in which each is a knot, a beginning and an end. Their fate lies in the hands of the God of Love, a capricious and unpredictable creature, at times benevolent and gentle, at others fierce and combative. Guiding us on this journey is the poet Ovid, the eternal bard of love who, beyond all sentimentality and morality, returns from Imperial Rome directly to our contemporary world to tell us this story.
The BIF&ST 2026 is the festival of the Apulia Region, presided over by Antonio Decaro, produced by the Apulia Film Commission Foundation, chaired by Anna Maria Tosto and directed by Antonio Parente, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Bari, the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, and numerous other public and private partners to be announced at a later date.