On April 25th we celebrate the liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism. An anniversary that Rai celebrates, Thursday 25 April, with a special schedule full of editorial initiatives, on TV, on the radio and on the web. Starting from the live broadcasts of the main institutional events broadcast on Rai 1, by Tg1 in collaboration with Rai Vaticano and Rai Quirinale. In particular, from 9.00, the ceremony of laying the laurel wreath at the Altare della Patria by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella will be followed from Piazza Venezia in Rome. The line will then move, from 9.20, to St. Peter’s Square for the meeting between Pope Francis and Catholic Action. From 11am, the connection will move to Civitella Val di Chiana (Ar) for the commemoration ceremony in the places of the Nazi-fascist massacre of 29 June 1944, with the participation of President Mattarella.
At 2pm, again on the flagship network, the program “La volta nuova”, broadcast at 2pm, commemorates the Liberation. On Rai 2, we will talk about it on “I fatti tue” at 11.10. On Rai 3, in addition to “Agorà” broadcast at 8.00, “Pasto e Presente” will be shown at 1.15pm, also broadcast at 8.30pm on Rai Storia, with Paolo Mieli and Professor Federico Goddi who retrace the birth of the partisan division in Montenegro, after 8 September 1943. On Sunday 28 April “Timeline” at 10.50 will talk about the role of social media in commemorating the anniversary of the Liberation.
Services and insights also on all the national newspapers in the various editions of the News and Gr. With connections in particular from RaiNews24 from all the institutional initiatives that will take place during the day. Tgr will guarantee coverage of the event in all regional editions of Tg and Gr. In particular, from Friuli-Venezia Giulia the Italian language editorial team will follow the main event on April 25th scheduled at the Risiera di Trieste, the only extermination camp in Italy , while the Slovenian language editorial team will cover the events from the concentration camps of the fascist regime in Gonars and Visco. Tgr Toscana will follow the visit of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to Civitella Val di Chiana. Tgr Molise will be live from Monte Marrone where the Italian Liberation Corps was formed and the first battle against the Nazi-fascists took place. Tgr Basilicata will remember the Nazi-fascist massacre of Rionero in Vulture and the internees of Rotondella, and will follow the initiatives in Potenza and Matera, gold medal for the Resistance and the first city in the South to rise up against Nazi-fascism. The local initiatives will be extensively documented with the participation of guests also in “Buongiorno Regione” by the editorial offices of Milan, Rome, Trento and Bolzano, Pescara, Palermo, Ancona and Bari.
Rai Movie will broadcast at 2pm the film “Roma città Aperta”, a masterpiece – in a restored version – of Italian Neorealism by Roberto Rossellini with Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi.
Rai Cultura dedicates the schedule of its Rai Storia channel to Liberation Day. A program that culminates with the special by Emanuela Lucchetti, premiered, entitled “29 June 1944. The Civitella massacre”, but which starts at 8.00 with the doc “The Acerra massacre: October 1943”. From 8.8.45am to 8.00pm “The Long Liberation” begins in which Carlo Lucarelli starts from the Allied landing in Sicily in July 1943 and gradually follows the chronological and geographical stages that led Italy to the liberation from Nazi-fascism and the reconquest of freedom. During the day, some interventions by the historian Giovanni De Luna focus on the key points of these two years of Italian history, historically contextualizing the films proposed. Finally, after the prime time special, Rai Storia’s schedule also offers “19 September 1943. The Boves massacre” from 9.40pm; “Milan at war” on daily life in the Milanese capital between 1943 and 1945; and “SeDici Storie” which traces the story of love and resistance of two anti-fascists – Stefano Siglienti and Ines Berlinguer – and the escape of Carlo Rosselli, Emilio Lussu and Francesco Fausto Nitti from Lipari confinement to Paris, where the political movement will be born Justice and Freedom. The Rai Cultura portal will retrace the fundamental stages that led to the Liberation from Nazi-fascism.
On RaiPlay an entire section is dedicated to the Anniversary of the Liberation. Among the films will be “A private question” by the Taviani Brothers (2017), “Un giorno da leoni” by Nanni Loy (1961), “Escape to France” by Mario Soldati (1948), “Il generali della Rovere” by Roberto Rossellini (1959). Among the fictions, “La storia” by Francesca Archibugi (2024), “Il generali Della Rovere” by Carlo Carlei (2011), “Salvo D’Acquisto” by Alberto Sironi (2003), “The good battle – Don Pietro Pappagallo” by Gianfranco Albano. For documentaries, “Bella Ciao – for freedom, by Giulia Japanese (2022), “Something that lives and burns” by Giovanni Donfrancesco (2021), “When the Germans couldn’t swim” by Elisabetta Sgarbi (2013), “Milano in war” by Graziano Conversano (2020). The selection of materials from the Teche Rai is rich, such as the documentary film “Birth of a partisan formation” by Ermanno Olmi (1973); “Tales of the resistance” by Anton Giulio Majano, Nelo Risi (1965); “Pertini the partisan president” (anthology of documentaries, speeches, interviews from Teche Rai). The collection entitled “Italy of the Resistance” will also be available. RaiPlay Sound will also highlight podcasts, documentaries and audio series dedicated to the theme, such as “Un giorno nella storia. 25 April 1945: Milan, Genoa, Turin” series in which the historian Carlo Greppi reconstructs the crucial moments of that day lived in the streets and factories of Milan, Genoa and Turin, and “Stories of the Resistance”, original podcast in which historians, writers, journalists and literary scholars delve into various aspects of that fundamental page of Italian history.
Live broadcasts and reports also in the main Radio Rai broadcasts. On Radio 1, in addition to “Radio anch’io” at 7.30, the anniversary will be the focus of a Gr1 Special at 11.05. On Radio 2, Liberation Day is celebrated by Caterpillar at 6pm, while Diodato’s concert will be broadcast in the evening. Radio 3, however, will highlight the role of the “Volunteers for Freedom”, telling the stories of partisans who went to fight Nazi-fascism and were persecuted, tortured and killed for this reason. Four historians and one historian will reconstruct the lives of ten women, in ten pills, ten sound fragments that will punctuate the day’s broadcasts, from “Here it begins” at 6.00 to “Radio3 suite” at 8.05pm. Finally, the Radio 3 programs “L’idealista”, broadcast at 2.30pm, and “Sei gradi” at 6pm, and the choice of songs and authors on Radio3 Classica are also dedicated to Liberation Day.
