Stories from the book I pellerossa che liberarono l'Italia (The Native Americans who liberated Italy) by journalist Matteo Incerti (published in Italy in 2020 by Corsiero editore) will be used in a documentary due for prime-time broadcast in November on Canadian state TV. Produced in French and English, the film is directed by the Mohawk-Canadian director Neegan Sioui.
Shooting began in Canada, where Sioui and his crew went first to the Cree territory of the Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head, Lean Man First Nations in the province of Saskatchewan and then to Ontario in Ojibwa territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, places that gave birth to so many of the heroes who liberated Italy from Nazi-fascism as narrated in the book.
The crew will shoot in Italy for four days: in Rome, Cassino and Roccasecca in Lazio; Ortona in Abruzzo and Ravenna, Cesena and Bagnacavallo in Romagna.
“I am honoured to accompany them during the filming and to be a narrator of the documentary, for the shoot in Rome and the Cassino battle field. We will reconstruct several episodes from the book related to the liberation of Rome, shooting on the banks and bridges of the Tiber, at St. Peters, the Fosse Ardeatine, Porta San Paolo, the Commonwealth cemetery in Testaccio and Tor Pignattara – said Incerti. Thanks to Neegan Sioui, we will show the deeds of these heroes who have been forgotten for too long along with their struggles for civil and environmental rights and the often incredible post-war lives of many of them, like Tommy Prince, Henry Beaudry, Wilmer Nadjiwon, Len Bailey, David Greyes and his sister Mary, Orville Johnston, Huron Brant who fell in Romagna and is buried in Cesena, the Sicilian-Native American brothers James and Jimmy Rossetti and many others”.