One of the singer-songwriters who knew how to turn words into poetry and music into a cure for the soul. It has been 14 years since that cursed March 1, 2012, the day when music, Italy and the world said goodbye forever to one of the most enlightened singer-songwriters ever: Lucio Dalla. 14 years also since the Bolognese artist’s legacy became eternal, to the point of becoming material for a film. And we would be inclined to say finally.
This is reported in Il Resto del Carlino, which today unveiled the eleven projects selected for the first session 2026 of the regional Cinema and Audiovisual call for national, European and non-European productions. Specifically, four cinematographic works, four television works and three documentaries are mentioned, which will get as much as one million euros from the Emilia Romagna region. Among the many projects included in the support, however, there is one specifically that cannot fail to touch the hearts of thousands of Bolognese and millions of Italians. We are talking about the long-awaited biopic on Lucio Dalla entitled “Lucio,” directed by Ambrogio Lo Giudice. A work that will bring Dalla’s life back to the big screen, and whose shooting is reportedly already set for September 12.
The newspaper interviewed for the occasion the very director of the project, who anticipated some details about the now upcoming project. “I tell it in the time span from Lucio as a child to Caruso, because there is a whole excursus in which we tell his most hidden moments. The successful persona, the albums sold… those are familiar themes, and in that sense Caruso represents a kind of revenge after a somewhat less brilliant period, because after the famous trio of albums Com’è profondo il mare, Lucio Dalla and Dalla, he began to make more difficult records, which were fine, but not as popular as those three.”
More hidden moments, to be brought into the limelight, for a man who knew true popularity practically “when he grew up.” Lo Giudice says he was a friend of Dalla, so much so that he was there when he wrote one of the undisputed masterpieces of Italian music, “Caruso,” ” we were together on a boat in Sorrento, where we are going to tour.” A friendship that comes from afar, from the days of the glorious tour with Francesco De Gregori, “Banana Republic” in 1979. First as a simple photographer present at the Savona concert, then as official personal photographer, and then as video clip director.
Filming, as anticipated, will surely come to Sorrento, but of course he will not miss Bologna, the main nucleus of his story as an artist and a man, where the production will reconstruct his home as a child, in Piazza Cavour, and which unfortunately is no longer there, up to the college he attended and the legendary Fonoprint studios.
But the question that many people must surely be asking is: who will play Lucio Dalla? The answer at the moment does not have a name, because casting is under way and options are being considered. “It’s not easy to find someone who can sing, act and who looks like him,” concludes Lo Giudice again to the Resto del Carlino.
[📸 Getty Images]
