EXCLUSIVE: Production was just completed in Bucharest, Romania this week on director/writer Edoardo Ponti‘s WWII Romance, The Wedding Dress starring Ukranian actress Ivanna Sakhno (Ahsoka), Lucas Englander (Transatlantic), Billie Boullet (A Small Light, Man On Fire) , Anika Boyle (Stranger Things: The First Shadow), Veronica Ferres (The Unholy Trinity), and Sasha Alexander (Rizzoli & Isles) .

Deadline has an exclusive first look at the film, co-written by Ponti and Victoria Rose, set in a refugee camp and based on a remarkable true story of two young survivors who fall in love and resolve to do the unthinkable — get married. But as their wedding day approaches, the bride finds herself torn between reuniting with her family in America and staying behind with the man she loves. The film is a sweeping romance set against one of history’s most unlikely backdrops — Germany in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Says Ponti: “When I first encountered this extraordinary true love story, I was struck not only by its emotional force, but by the courage, empathy, and difficult choices Lilly and Ludwig faced in finding their way into each other’s arms. The film unfolds in a time when darkness had settled over the world. Today, the skies seem to be darkening once again. Yet when I reflect on this story—on its enduring and timeless message of love—I am filled with optimism. Like the small glow of a distant lighthouse cutting through a deepening storm, the story of Lilly and Ludwig has given me hope, just as it has for the hundreds of people who are descended from it.”

The Wedding Dress marks Golden Globe nominated filmmaker Ponti’s first feature since Netflix’s 2020 The Life Ahead which represented a return to the screen for Ponti’s legendary mother, Sophia Loren who received Italy’s prestigious David di Donatello Award for Best Actress. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best International Film, as well as an Academy Award for Diane Warren’s original song, “Seen”.

The Wedding Dress is an Envision Media Arts Production, more than twelve years in the making. The Hollywood-based company was founded by producer Lee Nelson in 2002, and its credits include the Sundance Film Festival debut Celeste & Jesse Forever (Sony Pictures Classics), starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg; Mr. Church, directed by Bruce Bersiford and starring Edie Murphy, and The Ice Road franchise starring Liam Neeson. Producers are Nelson, Ponti, David Buelow, and David Tish.

Below is a first look at the movie.