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Bif&st-Bari, a small international film festival offering a broad selection of high cultural films, has vastly become one of the leading cinematic events in Italy, a jewel of a place where many artists are awarded the Federico Fellini Platinum Award for Cinematic Excellence. Journalist, film, and television critic, Felice Laudadio has a long history as cultural director in multiple Italian film festivals and is the artistic creator, founder, and director of Bari International Film Festival, which is held in four beautiful theatres, with the stunning Teatro Petruzzelli being one of the most beautiful theatres in the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon have long been advocates for environmental issues. So too has Mark Ruffalo, as one of the most vocal celebrities on the issue of fracking – hydraulic fracturing of the earth to release and harness gas.

Kyle Bowser – the Senior Vice President of the Hollywood bureau of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) – is very familiar with the acronym DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Fiercely committed to all of them, he’s still questioning where it all fits in with Hollywood today.

The year is 2022. The Earth is overpopulated, and more than 40 million people are starving.

French actor-writer-director Eva Husson and Mothering Sunday star, Australia’s Odessa Young (A Million Little Pieces, Assassin Nation, Shirley), were on hand via Zoom to conduct a Q & A about this evocative and inspiring film presented by Sony Picture Classics and Women in Film (WIF). Based on the heartbreaking novella by Graham Swift, the film was adapted to the screen by Alice Birch (Golden Globe Nominee Normal People).

The Dropout on Hulu is based on the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who, blinded by ambition and hubris rose to great prominence only to endure an equally spectacular fall, that shook America. Amanda Seyfried is most convincing in the skin of this brilliant and controversial business leader.

While she is best known for her role as fading movie legend Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson was a movie star who lived her life on her own terms. The diminutive actress (5’1) lived extravagantly and received unbelievable adulation including ten thousand fan letters a week at the height of her fame.

Despite being savaged by critics as one of the worst Marvel movies ever, Morbius still chalked up respectable earnings of $39. 1 million to debut at number one.

After weeks of absolute domination, The Batman falls to the fourth position in Italy, while Corro da te, a romantic comedy by Riccardo Milano starring Pierfrancesco Favino and Miriam Leone, grosses another €509. 000 and lands on the lowest step of the podium, taking in a total of two million euros.

A hedgehog and a vampire brought down Batman in a week filled with surprising new releases. And the country’s overall box office climbed to over a million in sold tickets and 10 million in receipts for the first time in weeks.