Martin Scorsese is going back to home turf with this one: the ace filmmaker is set to shoot a documentary on ancient shipwrecks in Sicily. The project will take the filmmaker to the Mediterranean Sea, a small town called Polizzi Generosa, where his paternal grandparents were born.
The project has no title as of now. It is based on research by the US archaeologist Lisa Briggs, who is a professor and researcher at Cranfield University in England.
Briggs is specialised in terrestrial and underwater archaeology, specifically in the use of scientific tools including DNA analysis on artefacts recovered from ancient shipwreck sites, to reconstruct stories of ships, sailors, cargoes, and maritime trade in the ancient world.
“We’ve welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm,” Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, who is Sicily’s councillor for cultural heritage, told Italian news agency ANSA.
He added that the authorities are “making all pertinent sites and archaeological parks available, considering the relevance of the project.”
According to several reports, Martin is set to begin work this summer.
As expected, the documentary will be made on a large budget.
It will be co-produced by Sicily’s regional culture department.
Martin Scorsese’s ancient shipwreck documentary will be shot in several areas including the Strait of Sicily, the area surrounding the port city of Trapani, the archaeological parks of Selinunte and Lilybaeum-Marsala, the Caves of Cusa, and the tiny island of Pantelleria.
Other locations include the historic tuna fishery on the island of Favignana; the ancient Phoenician colony of Mozia, the medieval village of Erice and Polizzi Generosa, the town on a high cliff along the southern slopes of Sicily’s Madonie mountains.
It is where Martin’s paternal grandparents, Teresa and Francesco Scorsese were born, before they immigrated to New York.