THE QUEEN OF ITALY RETURNS SILENT FILM AND LIVE MUSIC

A 1924 silent black and white film with live Italian Folk Music performed by The Viaggiatori.

This silent film, shot in 1924, documents the voyage of the SS Regina d'Italia (Queen of Itlay) through the mysterious Orient and Southern Ocean, as she sails from Italy to India and around the Southern and Eastern coasts of Australia.Italian film director Angelo Drovetti embarked on an epic 8,000-nautical-mile voyage with his movie camera. The result, Dall’Italia All’Australia (From Italy To Australia), is regarded by many as the most comprehensive film ever made of a migrant voyage.
Dall’Italia All’Australia first screened in Italy in May 1925. Over 60 minutes, the film chronicles the voyage of the passenger steam ship Regina d’Italia (Queen of Italy) – one of the three ships first built for the Lloyd Sabaudo Shipping Line at the turn of the century.
Melbourne journalist and author Tony De Bolfo stumbled on Dall’Italia All’Australia through his research for his book entitled In Search of Kings (published by Harper Collins). Widely viewed in Italy at the time of its release, the film has lain dormant in Italian archives and has never been shown to Australian audiences until recently.
The film showcases the panoramic views witnessed by Italian, Yugoslav, Greek, Arabic and Jewish migrants as they stood atop the deck of the old steamer during their sevenweek world odyssey from Genoa to Australia, by way of Egypt & Sri Lanka, arriving in September 1924.
The live music is performed by The Viaggiatori - Kavisha Mazzella (singer, guitar, accordion), Irine Vela (bouzouki, mandolin, guitar), David De Santi (accordion), and Mark Holder-Keeping (saxophone, clarinet). They perform old Italian folk songs, tunes including tarantellas, mazurkas and waltzes.