Portoferraio, 9 April 2024 – The unmistakable silhouette of Napoleon was spotted as he crossed the Porta a Mare of Portoferraio. With him Major Neil Campbellappointed by the English to control his stay on the island and some of the numerous “ladies” of his entourage.
Catapulted over two centuries later along a windy Medici dock populated with strange motor carriages, the group must have felt rather disoriented and were hanging on the lips of the journalist Massimo Canino, working with the cameras of Italia uno for a documentary that should be released in a couple of of months. In the role of the French emperor Marciana Marina actor Franco Giannoni, who has played Napoleon for over a decade and has received various awards in Tuscany, was recognized. Taking on the role of the upright Colonel Neil Campbell, the one who let Napoleon escape, is the Portoferraise architect Leonello Balestrini who has been playing the English soldier for years with the Historiae cultural association in a series of historical representations peppered with anecdotes and funny guided sketches directed by Giuliano Soldi.
Balestrini is also one of the characters that the journalist Massimo Canino talks about in his recent book «Frontemare», inspired by sailing travel made in 2023 which took him around the coasts and islands of the Tuscan archipelago for four months. The production has remained tight-lipped about the content of the documentary that is being made these days.
