Twenty years after the last circumnavigation, Nave Amerigo Vespucci on 1 July 2023 he set off for a new, extraordinary journey around the world, traveling the seas for 20 months, during which he reached 5 continents, 30 countries, 35 ports for a total of over 46,000 nautical miles, combining the training activity of the Officer Cadets of the Navy with an important diplomatic and cultural mission.
A unique opportunity to promote the image of Italy abroad, strengthen international relations and celebrate the excellence of Made in Italy through the Villaggio Italia, events, meetings and initiatives in some of the most iconic ports on the planet. Docufiction takes us on board the most beautiful training ship in Italy throughout this magnificent adventure Vespucci, the longest journey in two evenings, tonight and April 24th on Rai 3, a Palomar production (a Mediawan Company) in collaboration with Rai Fiction. The narrative voice is that of Luca Ward, the original music is by Nicola Piovani and the direction is by Flavio Maspes who also wrote the screenplay together with Armando Maria Trotta.
Between tradition and discovery, young students are trained while the Amerigo Vespucci sails the oceans as ambassador of Italy in the world together with the Villaggio Italia, multi-annual traveling mini-expo that accompanied the iconic sailing ship to showcase the country’s excellence. Two evenings to experience the “Vespucci World Tour”, climb aboard a legend, explore its beating heart and rediscover what it means to take your story beyond the horizon through an unprecedented undertaking. The protagonists of the docufiction Vespucci, the longest journey they are in fact i members of the crew, starting from the Commander (the Captain Giuseppe Lai), the helmsmen, the officers, the students of the Naval Academy of Livornand, together with them, also the testimonials of Villaggio Italia; protagonists who, over the course of two episodes, talk about this unprecedented undertaking and share their emotions during the adventure that will remain forever in their memory and that of Italians
The director Flavio Maspes explains this: «To fully capture the spirit, the narrative was entrusted mainly to the protagonists. The commander, the officers, the helmsmen explain the function, technique and history of each new operation while the student officers share their emotions for an adventure that will remain etched in their memories forever.”
The starting point of the story is the Naval Academy of Livorno, before arriving in Los Angeles, where the first Italian Village is held and where the students embark on the navigation that will make them become sailors even before officers. From there, the greeting with the voice as the first official commitment on board, the first climb ashore, in the trees, the crossing of the Pacific with stops in Hawaii, Tokyo, Manila and Darwin to meet different cultures and learn to address the Oceans firsthand. With the epic moment of the historic passage of Cape Horn, an undertaking that will remain in the history of the Navy.
The Vespucci World Tour and Villaggio Italia project was born from an idea of the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto; supported by Defense and twelve Ministries, created and produced by Difesa Servizi in a public-private partnership with the Ninetynine agency, so that the world tour would become, as well as a unitary expression of the values of the entire nation, also showcase of Made in Italy and driving force for our economy and for the dissemination of Italian culture. The Amerigo Vespucci and the Villaggio Italia have brought culture, history, innovation, food and wine, science, research, technology and industry around the world, which make Italy a great country, appreciated by the whole world.
