On 11th October 2026, Italy will mark its first Giornata nazionale in memoria delle vittime dell’Arandora Star (National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Arandora Star). To mark the inaugural National Day, a new docufilm, Arandora Star – 2 luglio 1940, directed by Danilo Caracciolo, will be released in Italy on the same day.

The film has been three years in the making and was produced by POPCult with co-producer Spiegel TV, in close collaboration with the Associazione Nazionale Arandora Star APS in Bardi. The project has strong links with Bardi: Caracciolo and producer Giusi Santoro first encountered the story through the Associazione Nazionale Arandora Star APS, and filming subsequently took place in Bardi, Ravenna and Bologna.

The film follows the events of the summer of 1940, from Italy’s entry into the war and the arrest and internment of Italians living in Britain, through to their deportation and the sinking of the Arandora Star on 2nd July. The story is brought to the screen through archive material, testimony and historical reconstruction, alongside a fictional storyline centred on an 11-year-old girl.

Preview at the Camera dei Deputati

Ahead of its public release, Arandora Star – 2 luglio 1940 received a special preview on 5th October in the Sala della Regina at Montecitorio, home of the Camera dei Deputati in Rome, as part of the events in the run-up to the first National Day of Remembrance.

Beppe Conti, President of the Associazione Nazionale Arandora Star APS in Bardi, was among those who spoke at the event. The association has worked for many years to preserve and research the history of the Arandora Star and collaborated closely in the development of the film.

The Camera dei Deputati has made the full event available to watch online. Beppe Conti’s contribution begins at approximately 36 minutes.

National premiere on 11th October

The film’s national premiere takes place on Sunday 11th October at 9pm at Pop Up Cinema Jolly 4K in Bologna, in collaboration with the Associazione Nazionale Arandora Star.

Director Danilo Caracciolo, producer Giusi Santoro, historian Serena Balestracci and members of the cast will take part in a discussion alongside the screening.

Following its release, the film is due to remain in Italian cinemas until 19th October, before beginning a touring programme across Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, Piedmont and Liguria. The screening schedule is:

11th October 21:00: Popup Cinema Arlecchino, Bologna, Via della Lame 56/A
12th October 21:00: Cinema Jolly, Ravenna, Via Renato Serra, 33
14th October 21:00: Cinema Bobbio Le Grazie, Bobbio (PC), Contrada dell’Ospedale, 2
15th October 21:00: Cinema Roma, Barga (LU), Via Canipaia 13
15th October 21:00: Cinema Odeon, Salsomaggiore (PR), Via Valentini 11/A
16th October 21:00: Cinema Manzoni, Pontremoli (MS), Piazza San Francesco 8
19th October 21:00: Cinema Astra, Parma (PR), Piazza Alessandro Volta, 3

Screenings for schools are also planned in the areas visited, accompanied by opportunities for students to meet and speak with historians, experts and relatives of those who lost their lives on the Arandora Star.

For now, the announced screenings are in Italy. We will share any further information about opportunities to see the film in the UK as it becomes available.