Bif&st-Bari International Film Festival reached every year 70.000 spectators, and in just five years, with its manifold offer of the highest cultural level (our 2013 program presented 402 events over 8 days), it has grown to become one of the major cinematic events in Italy.
Film director Ettore Scola is president of the Bif&st. The director is Felice Laudadio, former director of the Venice Film Festival and president of Cinecittà Holding. The main venue is the prestigious Teatro Petruzzelli, included amongst the most beautiful theatres in the world, and, all about the town, 12 other theaters are reserved to the festival.
During the past 5 years, some of the guests awarded with the “Federico Fellini Platinum Award for Cinematic Excellence†for having illuminated the cinema world with their artistic deeds were: Marco Bellocchio, Bertrand Tavernier, Claudia Cardinale, Margarethe von Trotta, Max von Sydow, Stephen Frears, Abbas Kiarostami, Giuseppe Tornatore, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Francesco Rosi, Barbara Sukowa, Dante Ferretti and Nicola Piovani, amongst the others. Every one of these great professionals held a Master Class for a passionate audience of about 1.200 people each time gathered in the Teatro Petruzzelli. Not only is the festival enthusiastically welcomed by local audiences, but also by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), which holds its Yearly General Assembly in Bari during the Bif&st dates.
The Bif&st also searches cinema and television archives for unreleased and lost documents on great personalities who were ambassadors of italian cinema to the world: the Retrospectives dedicated to Federico Fellini, Alberto Sordi, Carmelo Bene, Gian Maria Volontè and Massimo Troisi are amongst the most extended ever tributed to these masters.
In addition to non-competitive screenings, special events, workshops and meeting with the authors, the Bif&st features 5 competing sections: one dedicated to the best italian movies produced over the last year: ItaliaFilmFest; one dedicated to Documentary Films; one to Short Films (Arcipelago); one to First and Second Film Directors; and one that stars a selection of 10-12 among the best movies produced all over the world: the International Panorama section.
The gala evenings of the festival are hosted by the august Teatro Petruzzelli, and present International First Previews (or, in any case, Absolute Premiers to the italian market) of highly spectacular movies, amongst which, over the years: Nine by Rob Marshall, Titanic 3D by James Cameron, Lovely bones by Peter Jackson, The King’s Speech by Tom Hooper, The place beyond the pines by Derek Cianfrance, A late Quartet by Yaron Zilberman, Benvenuto Presidente by Riccardo Milani, Stand up Guys by Fisher Stevens.