Martin Scorsese, the famous and award-winning American director, has chosen Sicily as the set for his next docufilm on ancient shipwrecks. The project was born from an idea of underwater archaeologist Lisa Briggs, professor and researcher at the University of Cranfield in England, and will be co-produced by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Sicilian Region, by Scorsese’s “Sikelia Productions”, by Sunk Costs Productions , Chad A. Verdi and LBI Entertainment.
«We welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm – declared the councilor Francesco Paolo Scarpinato – making available all the sites, archaeological parks and museums pertaining to the department, considering the relevance of the project and the huge image return for the Sicily and its cultural heritage.”
Filming will take place during the summer, not only in the Strait of Sicily, in collaboration with the Superintendency of the Sea for marine and underwater filming, but also in various places in the province of Trapani. Among these, the archaeological park of Selinunte, the site of Marsala-Lilibeo, the Caves of Cusa, Pantelleria, Marausa – where the “Marausa 2” wreck was recently discovered – the museum of the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, the regional museum Agostino Pepoli of Trapani and the Salinas regional archaeological museum of Palermo. Among the locations chosen there are also the Tonnara di Favignana, the island of Mozia, Erice and, in the province of Palermo, Polizzi Generosa, the town of origin of the director’s grandparents. Other locations are still being identified.
