In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the family’s struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power…

Marco Bellocchio’s historical drama “Kidnapped”, based on real-life events, was screened in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival.