The new biopic about Franco Battiato

These are lucky years for musical biopics. “Back to Black” on Amy Winehouse; “Bob Marley: One Love”; “A Complete Unknown” about Bob Dylan; “Deliver Me From Nowhere” on Bruce Springsteen, to name just the most famous of the last two years. A tradition that is not lacking even in Italy, where the best-known example is “Fabrizio De André – Principe Libero” from 2018. Just as happened with Faber, now is the time to Franco Battiatoprotagonist of “The Long Journey”.

“Franco Battiato. The long journey” is a biopic directed by Renato De Maria and written by Monica Rametta. The film follows the path of the young Battiato, played by Dario Aita, from Sicily to his arrival in Milan in the Seventies, exploring the crucial moments of the path to success until his return to his beloved homeland.

The story therefore aims to be an internal journey, in which the artist’s nature, already inclined towards spirituality, is transformed into a more conscious search also through friendship with Fleur (Elena Radonicich), the relationship with the mother (Simona Malato) and fundamental encounters, such as the friendship with Juri Camisasca (Ermes Frattini) e Giuni Russo (Nicole Petrelli), up to the historic partnership with Right Pio (Giulio Forges Davanzati), co-author of many of the most important songs of Battiato’s career.

Giusto Pio was a classically trained composer and violinist. He came from the world of contemporary and cultured music, with strong expertise in orchestration, harmony and string writing. The meeting took place at the end of the 70s, when Battiato was looking for a new direction after years of electronic and conceptual experimentation. Their partnership is based on an extraordinary balance: Battiato brings visions, lyrics, melodies and pop-philosophical intuitions, while Pio gives formal rigor, classical structure and timbral refinement to the songs.

Symbols of the partnership can be masterpieces such as “The Era of the White Boar” (1979), “Patriots” (1980) and “The Master’s Voice” (1981), but also the work carried out for third parties: an example above all, Giorgio Gaber’s “Chicken Farming”, for which the two take care of the arrangements. In fact, Gaber also appears in the film, which he retraces the evolution of Battiato from radical experimentation to evenings with Mr. G and Ombretta Colli up to pop success, putting his true journey at the center: the search for the inner self.

They are also present in the biopic Joan Thiele And Anna Castigliawhile the original music is by Vittorio Cosma with Giuvazza Maggiore.

The film will only arrive in cinemas on 2, 3 and 4 February 2026.