Dante's Inferno

Boris Acosta grew up in Uruguay, South America. Although he has lived most of his life in the United States, he lived in 8 countries altogether and speaks 4 languages fluently.

When he was 8 years young, he produced and directed his first film wearing as many hats as any filmmaker could wear. He found a large magnifying glass, 15 cm in diameter, which he used to build a projector using a wooden box, with a hole in the front to fit the magnifying glass, and, with the help of his grandfather, put a light in the back of the box. He bought two issues of the same comic magazine, which he cut into strips and glued them together by their edges to make a big roll out of them. He put the roll of comic strips in between the light and the magnifying glass and projected it on the wall. One could say that this was the first home projector ever, but he never thought of it that way. However, this was certainly Acosta's first film.

At the age of 17, he moved with his family to Argentina where he completed high school and started college. Then, he immigrated to the United States as a transfer student and graduated from the University of California in the United States in 1987. He earned a minor in Italian Literature and another one in Engineering, as well as a Bachelors degree in Applied Mathematics (Scientific Programming).

While being a college student, he was invited to be part of a short film, where he played a nerd chess player as the main actor. In 1989 he produced and directed a 6-hour series video teaching Calculus problems solving called Calculus Tutor – Step-by-Step Problem Solutions.

After producing several educational videos, in 1989, Boris Acosta was encouraged to produce a live-action feature film trilogy based on by Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece - The Divine Comedy, the greatest Christian story every told, after The Gospel. Since then, he has been working on the development of this amazing trilogy – Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

While in the process of developing the live-action films above, he has produced two medium-length films, Dante’s Inferno - Abandon All Hope, a black and white documentary featuring most of Gustave Dore's lithographs and excerpts from the live action Italian film L'Inferno. The second medium-length film is an animation narrated in English titled Dante’s Hell Animated. Mr. Acosta also produced and directed a short film titled Inferno Animato, based on the animation above, but in primitive Italian and Dante’s own poetic words, the first film of its kind in history. Finally, he produced and directed Inferno by Dante the first feature epic documentary in film history based on Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy.

Boris Acosta has devoted ten years to the realization of this work, with a dedication truly admirable, and has scheduled the release of the two sequel documentaries dedicated to the exploration of Purgatory by Dante (2020) and Paradise by Dante (2021). Meanwhile, he received official invitations from both, the University of Rome at La Sapienza to screen, a yet work-in-progress film, Dante's Hell Animated on Dec. 1, 2012. The following year, he was invited to screen it at the University of California at Los Angeles, which screened on March 3, 2013. In both opportunities, he presented his animations to the most demanding academic audience, who responded with overwhelming applauses. Mr. Acosta is giving these films, along with a previous documentary based on the same story, for free to educational institutions worldwide. Two years later, in February 2015, Mr. Acosta was invited to screen both "Dante’s Inferno - Abandon All Hope", and "Dante's Hell Animated" at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles where reservations exceeded its capacity. Afterward, he received high press reviews by L’Italo Americano and others.

Inferno by Dante certainly has a spectacular value in itself, especially for anyone who has the desire to approach Dante's literary masterpiece and be transported to the discovery of the rich descriptions of his universe but also has all the characteristics to become an indispensable learning tool. Teachers who wish to accompany their students on this special journey to Hell and back, from now on it will hug with a single glance of the mind and imagination, providing a rare opportunity to grab the final synthesis of that message, not only literally but also morally, politically and spiritually, that Dante has entrusted to his immortal poem, The Divine Comedy. Inferno by Dante premiered at the Cannes film festival market in 2018, featuring the entire 72-piece art collection by Dino Di Durante, now available in books at Amazon in 33 languages in paperback and ebook formats.

“I have been directing films since 1980 and during that time I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many interesting people, including Tom Hanks, all sharing the same desire to express their talent in some way. Only those individuals with great tenacity, perseverance, and talent achieve that. I believe such an individual is Boris Acosta.” Quote by Armand Mastroianni, film Director.

In 2008, Boris Acosta accomplished a task that no Italian had been able to do in 700 years. He got "Dante Alighieri pardoned from exile" after he petitioned it in a letter to Matteo Renzi, Florence's Mayor at the time.