On Tuesday March 31 2026, 18:00 (Local time) at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC, a special screening will highlight one of the most extraordinary achievements in the history of ocean exploration and a remarkable chapter of Italian scientific ingenuity.
The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington will host a presentation of the docufilm Operazione Batiscafo Trieste, directed by Massimiliano Finazzer Flory, an event dedicated to the legendary deep-sea mission that reached the deepest point on Earth.
The film tells the story of the bathyscaphe Trieste and its historic dive on January 23, 1960, when Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh descended 10,916 meters into the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. That dive established a world record for the deepest manned descent into the ocean, a record that stood for decades and remains one of the most celebrated milestones in the exploration of the planet’s oceans.
The Trieste itself symbolized international collaboration and engineering innovation. Designed by Auguste Piccard and later piloted by his son Jacques, the vessel was built with contributions from several Italian industrial centers. The project represented a unique intersection of scientific ambition, technical skill, and cross-Atlantic cooperation.
Operazione Batiscafo Trieste reconstructs this extraordinary mission through archival footage from the Istituto Luce, historical research, and a cinematic narrative that blends scientific rigor with a poetic approach to storytelling. The docufilm also features special appearances by Bertrand Piccard and Kelly Walsh, the sons of the two pilots, who reflect on the legacy of their fathers’ achievement and its impact on modern exploration.
Commissioned by the City of Trieste in collaboration with Rai Cinema, the film was shot in several locations connected to the story of the bathyscaphe, including Trieste, Monfalcone, Terni, Castellammare, Ponza, and Washington, D.C. The production runs approximately 50 minutes and is presented in both Italian and English, combining color footage with historical black-and-white material.
More than six decades after the historic dive, the film also follows the faithful reconstruction of the Trieste bathyscaphe, symbolically returning the vessel “home” to Italy at the Diego de Henriquez War Museum in Trieste while exploring its legacy in the United States at the U.S. Navy’s National Museum in Washington.
The Washington screening offers audiences an opportunity to rediscover a remarkable scientific adventure that united Italy and the United States in the pursuit of knowledge and exploration. Through the story of the Trieste bathyscaphe, the docufilm reflects on the enduring human desire to explore the unknown and transform daring visions into achievements that inspire future generations.
