The BIF&ST \u2013 Bari International Film&TV Festival (21\u201328 March 2026), now in its seventeenth edition and directed for the second consecutive year by the journalist and film critic Oscar Iarussi, will this year dedicate two retrospectives to two key figures in contemporary cinema, capable of portraying reality in a clear and concrete manner and of evoking memory, whether poignant or rebellious against the tyranny of the present, across several generations of viewers. They are the Italian Giuseppe Tornatore, Oscar\u00a9 winner for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (a film that began its artistic journey in Bari itself, at EuropaCinema 1988), and the Franco-Tunisian Abdellatif Kechiche. Two monographic retrospectives which, through works and visions, themes and styles, will present the public with a pair of filmographies that have left their mark on European and international cinema; moreover, for younger audiences, these films will be visible for the first time on the big screen for which they were conceived. The BIF&ST is a festival of the Apulia Region, chaired 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 \u201cAldo Moro\u201d, and numerous other public and private partners to be announced later. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cBIF&ST 2026 aims to strengthen its international identity,\u201d says Oscar Iarussi, \u201cwith a particular focus on European and Mediterranean cinema. Within this Euro-Mediterranean framework, following the retrospective dedicated to Nanni Moretti in 2025, we have chosen to pay tribute to two other great filmmakers with an original and vibrant vision. Tornatore and Kechiche speak to the heart and conscience of an audience called upon, time and again, to confront the reality of the present or the contradictions of history, navigating between nostalgia and eroticism, intercultural encounters and clashes, and social commentary\u201d. Iarussi concludes: \u201cIt is a genuine honour for BIF& ST that we have been granted the opportunity to organise both retrospectives, for which I thank both Giuseppe Tornatore \u2013 who, moreover, has been linked to Bari since his youth when he screened his first short films at the University Theatre Centre \u2013 and Abdellatif Kechiche, whose perspective on immigration in particular aligns with the festival\u2019s identity and the Apulia Region\u2019s historic commitment to fostering dialogue between cultures and communities\u2019 . <\/p>\n\n
To pay tribute to one of the most celebrated masters of Italian cinema, the festival presents a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Giuseppe Tornatore, who will be a guest at BIF&ST 2026. A director, screenwriter and filmmaker capable of blending popular storytelling with an international outlook, Tornatore has made a decisive contribution to shaping the Italian cinematic imagination of recent decades, earning numerous accolades both at home and abroad. The retrospective, to be held at the Multicinema Galleria and the Teatro Petruzzelli, traces the entire filmography of the Oscar-winning director, featuring 14 titles that have enchanted generations of viewers: l camorrista (1986), Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), Stanno tutti bene (1990), Una pura formalit\u00e0 (1994), L\u2019uomo delle stelle (1995), La leggenda del pianista sull\u2019oceano (1998), Mal\u00e8na (2000) La sconosciuta (2006), Baar\u00eca (2009), L\u2019ultimo Gattopardo: ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo (2010), La migliore offerta (2013), La corrispondenza (2016), Ennio (2021), Brunello, il visionario garbato (2025). <\/p>\n\n
Giuseppe Tornatore comments: \u201cI am delighted to return to Bari and grateful to the BIF&ST and its director Oscar Iarussi for this extensive retrospective dedicated to my films. The BIF&ST is a special festival for me, one I always enjoy returning to, because here the most important thing is the direct encounter between the audience and the films: a curious audience, with a genuine desire to discover cinema. And meeting the audience, especially the younger members, will be a precious opportunity to remember that the cinema remains the most intense way to experience a film\u201d.<\/p>\n\n
The 17th edition of BIF&ST also presents, at the Teatro Kursaal Santalucia, a retrospective dedicated to one of the most influential figures in contemporary European cinema, Abdellatif Kechiche. A Franco-Tunisian director, screenwriter and actor, winner of the Palme d\u2019Or at Cannes and a point of reference for a generation of filmmakers, Kechiche has built a cinematic style that delves into social dynamics and human relationships, whilst also questioning the present through an authorial gaze that explores bodies and obsessions. The BIF&ST presents a retrospective of seven of the director\u2019s films: Tutta colpa di Voltaire (2000), La schivata (2003), Cous Cous (2007), Venere nera (2010), La vita di Adele (2013), Mektoub, my love \u2013 Canto uno (2017) and the Italian premiere of Mektoub, my love \u2013 Canto due (2025), the highly anticipated new chapter in Kechiche\u2019s magnum opus, which takes us back to the Mediterranean south of France amidst the hopes and turmoil of youth in the 1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The BIF&ST \u2013 Bari International Film&TV Festival (21\u201328 March 2026), now in its seventeenth edition and directed for the second consecutive year by the journalist and film critic Oscar Iarussi, will this year dedicate two retrospectives to two key figures in contemporary cinema, capable of portraying reality in a clear and concrete manner and of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n