Dante’s Glorious Return poster
Dante Alighieri’s Last Wish Must Come True
— Boris Acosta
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, December 25, 2021 — Boris Acosta, who was the mastermind behind getting Dante Alighieri’s pardon from Florence exile in 2008, makes a compelling request based on Dante’s own wish, to move his remains from Ravenna to Florence now.In Dante Alighieri’s own words in Paradise XXV of The Divine Comedy, he wrote his last wish, to return home to Florence, Italy. Based on Dante’s wish, filmmaker Boris Acosta released today for free on YouTube, a dramatic and powerful short documentary emphatically requesting Ravenna’s Frati Francescani, custodians of Dante’s remains, to let Dante’s remains go to Florence. The short film titled “Dante’s Glorious Return” is presented by Franco Nero, introduced by Armand Mastroianni and features Loreena McKennitt’s famous song “Dante’s Prayer” in its complete and instrumental version. Boris Acosta, a producer and director of several films based on The Divine Comedy, is the main narrator, who systematically and cohesively makes a strong and convincing argument to make Dante’s last wish to finally come true.
Boris Acosta studied The Divine Comedy at UCLA in its original and primitive (volgare) Italian language. He also studied all the works by Dante and obtained a degree in Italian literature. However, Mr. Acosta is mainly known for producing and directing several films based on Dante’s Inferno. Two of his films, Inferno Dantesco Animato and Dante’s Hell screened virtually in late 2020 at the Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival by invitation of the festival’s director, Franco Calandrini. Inferno Dantesco Animato is an historic medium length animation narrated and spoken in Dante’s own poetic words, the only film of its kind up until now. Dante’s Hell is a long documentary, set to be released in 2022, which participated at the festival as a work-in-progress. It features Eric Roberts as Dante and Franco Nero as the narrator.
Every year the city of Ravenna pays tribute to Dante Alighieri in a month-long ceremony called “Settembre Dantesco”. During this event, the Florentines bring oil to fill and light the lamp hanging from the ceiling of the little house where Dante’s remains lay, down in the tomb inside. Every year, citizens of Florence take advantage of this ceremony to request the Franciscan Brothers of Ravenna, for Dante’s remains to be taken to Florence, which has been denied every single year up until now.
Dante Alighieri passed away in Ravenna, Italy in 1321 and since then his remains have been highly protected by Ravenna’s Frati Francescani for the last 700 years. However, Mr. Acosta argues that time has come for them to let go and put all politics and economics aside for Dante’s love. They’ve done a great job in protecting Dante’s remains, but everything comes to an end and this is it. It is time for Dante’s Glorious Return to Florence.
While everybody in Italy celebrates the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, instead we should celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante’s completion of his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, by gifting his soul and make Dante’s last desire come true and R.I.P. this Christmas of 2021 – Boris Acosta.
