Virginia Raffaele, Aldo Baglio and an 84-year-old shepherd inaugurate the Rome Film Festival amidst rain, applause and famous couples on the red carpet

First wet red carpet, first lucky red carpet. There Rome Film Festival 2025 opens under a sudden storm. At the Auditorium we parade under umbrellas. The opening film is Life goes like this by Riccardo Milani, an important work on places to be preserved, but also on feelings to be protected. Protagonists, in addition to the Sardinia of the heart, Virginia Raffaele, Aldo Baglio, Diego Abatantuono, and the shepherd (true) Giuseppe Ignazio Loiescorted on the red carpet by Raffaele.

Ignazio Loi is in fourth grade, 84 years old, with the dignity of someone who knows the land and time and didn’t want to act as an actor. The film is inspired by true story of Ovidio Marras, who for more than ten years resisted pressure from a real estate group determined to build a resort on his land. He didn’t sell it, neither for 12 million euros on screen, nor for slightly less in reality. «There is a man who knows how to say no, who has the courage to say no, and courage is an important thing, a value that I believe in, which I think we all lack a little”, explained the director.

On the red carpet, the godmother does the honors, Emma Stockholm, and the president of the jury, Paola Cortellesi. Many couples: Michele Riondino with Eva Nestori, Luca Argentero with his wife Cristina Marino, Luca Zingaretti and Luisa Ranieri. And then again, Christian De Sica and Silvia Verdone, Ermal Meta and Chiara Sturdà, Caterina Balivo and Guido Maria Brera.

Diego Abatantuono and Riccardo Milani

Daniele Venturelli