The Life Ahead

The Life Ahead
Official poster
Directed byEdoardo Ponti
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAngus Hudson
Edited byJacopo Quadri
Music byGabriel Yared
Production
companies
  • Palomar
  • Impact Partners
  • Artemis Rising
  • Another Chance Productions
  • Foothills Productions
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • 6 November 2020 (2020-11-06) (United States)
  • 13 November 2020 (2020-11-13) (Italy)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

The Life Ahead (Italian: La vita davanti a sé) is a 2020 Italian Award-winning drama film directed by Edoardo Ponti, from a screenplay by Ponti and Ugo Chiti. It is the third screen adaptation of the 1975 novel The Life Before Us by Romain Gary. It stars Sophia Loren, Ibrahim Gueye and Abril Zamora, and is set in Bari, Italy. The film was preceded by Madame Rosa, a 1977 film based on the Gary novel, directed by Moshé Mizrahi and featuring Simone Signoret. Like the book, the first film version is set in Paris.The Life Ahead was given a limited release on November 6, 2020, followed by digital streaming on Netflix on November 13. The Life Ahead received major awards attention, especially for its music and lead performance, including Academy Awards and Golden Globes. The song "Io sì (Seen)" (Diane Warren and Laura Pausini) won Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Sophia Loren won several Best Actress honors, including the David di Donatello and was nominated at the Satellite Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role at 85 years old.