SATURNIA
PRODUCED (2012)
Saturnia shadows the complex history of the once-striking ship that carried more than 260,000 Italian immigrants, troops, and aristocrats to North America. Painting the story of Italian transatlantic migration, the documentary follows Michelle, a second-generation Italian who is trying to learn more about her father Francesco’s journey from Italy to Canada. In pursuit of the information, Michelle seeks the help of other Saturnia passengers Rosa, Silvano, and Antonio. Across the ocean, in Italy, Captain Bruno, remembers arduous voyages and heartbreaking departures. The story of immigration is narrated through the passengers’ distant memories and vivid recollections of lived experiences. These courageous people share their real-life tragedies, celebrations, adjustments, and hardships since their life-changing journey to North America.
TORONTO SHOWCASE Award at the 2012 Moving Image Film Festival
Written, Directed and Produced by Ferdinando Dell'Omo and Lilia Topouzova
Edited by Juan Baquero, DOP Maya Bankovic Original Music by Ivo Paunov Produced in Association with: OMNI Television, in Co-production with: DocLAB
with the support of: The Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Studies at YORK University, Toronto, Fondazione Ansaldo, Genova-Liguria FILM Commission, and the Canadian Museum of Immigration at PIER 21.
ABOUT SATURNIA
“a gentle, intelligent little study of culture shock”
N. Wilner NOW Magazine
“Those were days of great emotional intensity, of conflicts and emotions, where the past is not yet in the past and the future has yet to arrive, in the middle of the ocean. Saturnia isn’t just about those days, but also about the courage and faith of the Italian-Canadian immigrants who [...] came across over a long period of research”.
C. Minutola, Tandem Magazine