On May 18th, 1940, the old tug boat Pentcho left the port of Bratislava on the Danube. It carried 520 Jews - Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles - who wanted to go down the river to Sulina, on the Black Sea. There, they were supposed to board a bigger ship to proceed to Palestine. The tug boat had to cross several borders and was repeatedly halted and impounded. Every time, miraculously, the passengers managed to continue their journey. When, at last, the Pentcho arrived in Sulina, five months late, the ship that had been designated to carry the passengers through the rough seas to Palestine was nowhere in sight. The captain made a brave decision and continued to travel until the boat engine, not adequate for the sea, broke down. The boat was stranded on a deserted island. After struggling for ten days, the shipwrecked Jews were saved by an Italian military ship, Camogli. However, during the war Italy sided with Germany. Were the victims saved or did only another odyssey begin?

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Stefano Cattini is born in Carpi (Modena) and lives in Parma. He has been a member of the European Film Academy since 2010. He is the author of several documentaries focusing on personal stories that have been screened in International Festivals, such as Ivan e Loriana, Amen and The Blue Star. His film Deafkidsland was nominated for the David di Donatello in 2010. Pentcho received special mention of the jury at the Festival dei Popoli in Firenze 2018.

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A panel discussion will follow, attended by the author.
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