Pierette Domenica Simpson, a 9-year-old survivor of the deadly Andrea Doria-Stockholm shipwreck in 1956, produced an award-winning docufilm about her harrowing immigration from Italy to Detroit and reveals the untold truth about the most controversial maritime disaster in history.

Award-winning docufilm, Andrea Doria: Are the Passengers Saved? heads to Hollywood’s prestigious Los Angeles Italia - Film, Fashion and Art Fest. Novi resident, Pierette Simpson and the film’s Roman director, Luca Guardabascio, received an invitation to screen their international film at the 12^th edition of the festival. Screening will take place on Tuesday, February 21 at 9:00pm. http://www.losangelesitalia.com/  

The 2017 festival which runs from February 19^th through the 25^th, will take place at the Chinese Six Theatre complex at Hollywood & Highland adjacent to the home of the Academy Awards®, and will put Italian cinema in the spotlight through a series of premieres, screenings, and exhibitions. Music icons Mike Stoller and Corky Hale will chair the festival.

Mike Stoller, also a survivor of the Andrea Doria collision and sinking, is the principal composer for Andrea Doria: Are the Passengers Saved? Along with his songwriting partner, Jerry Leiber, Stoller composed many of the top rock and roll hits of the 50’s and 60’s including songs such as “Hound Dog,” “Kansas City,”  “Stand by Me”, “On Broadway”, “Charlie Brown,” and “Jailhouse Rock”. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Simpson notes, “It’s a thrill to work with a music legend who is also a friend. Mr. Stoller’s music enhances the dramatizations of sadness and hope with rich emotional pull. And Livonia composer and guitarist, Nick Canzano’s work paints the bittersweet immigration experience felt by my grandparents and me. Bringing my message to Hollywood, along with such talent is a dream-come-true. And what better place to reveal the untold truth of the controversial disaster on the big screen!”

Andrea Doria: Are the Passengers Saved is based on Simpson’s critically acclaimed books, Alive on the Andrea Doria! and in Italy, “L’ultima notte dell’Andrea Doria”. Simpson is the first shipwreck survivor to write, narrate and produce a film on any shipwreck. She is a first-time film producer.

The film was produced to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the catastrophe on June 25, 1956. Filming took place in the U.S. and Italy. Locally, Tri-Omega Productions, Matt Peach, director/assistant producer, shot it in Ferndale. More dramatizations were filmed at the Dearborn home of Richard Haskin, film set photographer.

Please click here to watch the trailer.

Awards/Recognitions

• “Audience Choice Award” from the Royal Starr Film Festival of Royal Oak, Michigan
• “Best Feature Documentary” at the Salerno International Film Festival, Italy
• 4 direction awards to Luca Guardabascio,
• Special Mention to producer Pierette Simpson from the Salerno Film Festival
• Endorsements from the Piemonte and Liguria regions and the Italian government

Premieres:

• Museo del Mare, Genova, Italy
• Detroit Film Theatre of the Detroit Institute of Arts 
• Eboli, Italy
• San Martino Canavese, Piemonte, Italy
• The Italian Parliament, Deputy Chambers, Rome

Simpson has appeared on American and Italian documentaries and on CBS Sunday Morning. She is interviewed frequently for radio, TV, and print publications that include The New York Times.

For film information, screenings, interviews, and sponsorships, Pierette can be reached thru the film website at www.AndreaDoriaMovie.com:http://andreadoriamovie.com/contact/

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Atkins at 313-492-5718 or elizabethannatkins444 at gmail.com (formatted for spam protection)