The Lions of Lissa
Italy, 2019, 76′
Director-Producer: Nicolò Bongiorno
The Lions of Lissa is the second chapter of the trilogy of “human adventure” exploration documentaries written and directed by Nicolò Bongiorno. It is based on the backdrop of the story of the legendary “battle of Lissa” (1866), the first fleet battle ever involving Ironclad warships, which triggered a fundamental geopolitical junction for several European nations in the context of the “Italian Risorgimento”. Crossing the boundaries of genres between the classical films of naturalistic exploration, and the literary Greek “circumnavigation Periplus’s” that combined real history and imagined history, the story is represented as a poetic and personal tale full of action and wonder, in a mosaic of visual, historical, anthropological and mythological references. The documentary team has achieved an underwater photography work of the highest technical value, shedding a new light on the spirit of underwater exploration, and from the point of view of naval archaeological history carrying out a deep and complex dive of significant scientific value on a legendary wreck lost in the depths of the Adriatic Sea.
