Aldo Di Russo

The film The Bread, Wings and Sword won the 12th Tourist Film Festival in the "World Heritage sites" category. The Festival was hosted in Portugal in November 2019 and was attended by 52 countries in competition.
The film is based on an imaginary dialogue between a soldier who fought against the Turks in the battle of Lepanto and a baker of Monte Sant'Angelo anchored to the protection of the saints as the only salvation from the looming dangers. This film was created as a promotion for the Castle of Monte Sant'Angelo, and is set at a time in history when, between Venice and Crete, the Gargano was at the centre of the historical events that marked the dawn of the modern era.

While the screenplay, written together with Raffaele Nigro, refers to that historical period, it evokes contemporary themes and reinterprets the fear of the Turks as one of the possible prejudices of those who refuse to read the complexity of the story. Every time barbarians are evoked or different peoples are apostrophized as barbaric, a collective perception is generated that considers every paradigm shift as a pillage by predators without culture or history. This was the case in those times and that way risks repeating itself. The soldier, who fought and killed only because "in war or you kill or you are killed", ponders his story and decides on an ending that completely revises his future life. A future where everything will be different, where forts will no longer exist, where everything, except the bread of Monte can be done in another way