About Bif&st

Bif&st-Bari International Film&Tv Festival reaches every year 75.000 spectators, and in just 14 editions, with its broad offer of the highest cultural level, it has become one of the leading cinematic events in Italy. The main venue of Bif&st is one of the most beautiful theatres in the world, the Teatro Petruzzelli. The 2024 edition of Bif&st will take place from March 16 to 23, in three other beautiful theatres, newly restored, besides Teatro Petruzzelli: Teatro Piccinni, Teatro Kursaal and Teatro Margherita, an unparalleled event in the world.

Bif&st, which is under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, is promoted and financed by Apulia Region, and produced by Fondazione Apulia Film Commission with Pugliapromozione in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. The film director Volker Schlöndorff is the president of the festival, of which Ettore Scola and Margarethe von Trotta are honorary presidents. Bif&st founder and director is Felice Laudadio, former CEO of Istituto Luce, director of Venice Film Festival, of TaorminaFilmFest, of EuropaCinema and of Casa del Cinema in Rome, chairman of Cinecittà and of Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale.

Volker Schlöndorff is one of 21 Academy Award-winning filmmakers who have attended Bif&st over the years where they have given packed masterclasses and received the Fellini Award. These are the other 20 Oscar guests at the Bif&st: Stephen Frears (4 Oscars, plus various nominations), John Madden (7, plus various nominations), Helen Mirren (1, plus 3 nominations), Alan Parker (6, plus various nominations), Michael Radford (1, plus 4 nominations for The Postman), Andrzej Wajda (1, plus 4 nominations), Roberto Benigni (3, plus 4 nominations for Life is Beautiful), Bernardo Bertolucci (9 for The Last Emperor, plus 2 nominations), Dante Ferretti (3, plus 7 nominations) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (ditto), Ennio Morricone (2, plus 5 nominations), Vittorio Storaro (3, plus 1 nomination), Gianni Quaranta (1, plus 2 nominations), Luis Bacalov, Costa-Gavras, Walter Fasano, Taylor Hackford, Nicola Piovani, Gabriele Salvatores, Paolo Sorrentino, Giuseppe Tornatore. In addition to the 14 Oscar nominees, including authors and actors, protagonists of past editions of Bif&st: Andrej Končalovskij, Jacques Perrin, Carlos Saura, Max von Sydow; and Gianni Amelio, Massimo Cantini Parrini, Cristina Comencini, Giancarlo Giannini, Tonino Guerra, Mario Martone, Mario Monicelli, Francesco Rosi, Gianfranco Rosi, Ettore Scola, and, this year Matteo Garrone. Almost all of them have also been awarded in Cannes, Venice, Berlin and with the David di Donatello and the Silver Ribbons.

Many other guests have received the Federico Fellini Platinum Award for Cinematic Excellence over the years: Fanny Ardant, Leos Carax, Jafar Panahi, Edgar Reitz, Barbara Sukowa, Bertrand Tavernier, Margarethe von Trotta, Antonio Albanese, Roberto Andò, Dario Argento, Pupi Avati, Pippo Baudo, Marco Bellocchio, Sonia Bergamasco, Margherita Buy, Andrea Camilleri, Claudia Cardinale, Sergio Castellitto, Liliana Cavani, Paola Cortellesi, Paolo Del Brocco, Valerio De Paolis, Roberto Faenza, Pierfrancesco Favino, Sabrina Ferilli, Fabrizio Gifuni, Valeria Golino, Ugo Gregoretti, Roberto Herlitzka, Andrea Leone, Virna Lisi, Luigi Lo Cascio, Guido Lombardo, Luigi Lonigro, Nicola Maccanico, Mario Martone, Francesco Maselli, Valerio Mastandrea, Giuliano Montaldo, Laura Morante, Nanni Moretti, Ornella Muti, Francesco Piccolo, Michele Placido, Domenico Procacci, Micaela Ramazzotti, Riccardo Scamarcio, Sergio Rubini, Lina Sastri, Toni Servillo, Paolo e Vittorio Taviani, Armando Trovajoli, Carlo e Enrico Vanzina, Carlo Verdone, Paolo Virzì. Each of these great professionals held very crowded Masterclasses at the Petruzzelli Theater (1,400 participants for each film lesson).