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Staring the engineer Giorgio Rosa himself (in Italian).
L'Isola delle RoseIl sogno di ogni
uomo libero: fondare un proprio stato indipendente. In questo
documentario inedito l'ingegnere bolognese Giorgio Rosa ci racconta di
come costruì la sua micronazione, un'isola artificiale, nelle acque
internazionali al largo delle coste di Rimini. L'Isola delle Rose, che
si avvaleva di organi di governo, bandiera, lingua ufficiale
(l'Esperanto), e persino valuta e francobolli propri, fu una vera e
propria impresa piratesca, straordinaria e affascinante, avvenuta nel
rivoluzionario 1968.
Originally
posted
April 9, 2009
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FILM SCRIPT
[PRINTED STATEMENT] GIORGIO ROSA TELLS THE TALE OF ... THE ISLAND OF THE ROSES
...I had already been a soldier in the south of the Italian Social Republic [puppet state of Nazi Germany led by Benito Mussolini], a conscripted soldier, and Italy had practically been won, and I saw that the Americans overdid...
...And then, therefore, I thought of making this island of tubes of steel...
...I chose the point, I shall put it this way, that was 11 kilometres and 500 metres [11.5 km] from the shoreline...
...Everyone was in agreement that outside territorial waters one could have not absolutely intervened, therefore no nation could have held dominium over these waters...
...It had to be another four floors above the level [of the water], and afterwards it could have been enlarged, because it was 400 square metres, but another template placed nearby would have made it of 800 square metres, and [with] another three/four templates you would have naturally reached [the size] of what you thus expected...
...Afterwards we created a currency (we wanted to create it), we instituted as language Esperanto, to differentiate [ourselves] from Italy, not because one spoke Esperanto! And therefore the people many times didn't know where to go, and therefore with the boat they would reach the island, they visited it, and then naturally went back home...
...After, we would have naturally opened stores, of souveniers, of posters, in other words, a normal life, a little like San Marino, a little thus like Montecarlo, and therefore...
...And then there was this nice fact that on the island, one could even see these big steamships pass by that were going to Trieste, and therefore even the big ships — the tankers, etc. — would pass nearby. I don't know if they did it on purpose — because they already spoke about it — to see this island, or if it was their normal route. However, it made quite an impression to see these, because if they had made a mistake, it would have smashed everything to pieces, ha ha!..
...On a morning of the 29th of June — I think — 1948 [Film editor's note: actually it was 25 June 1968], ten boats — some of the police, some of the Carabinieri, and some also of the Guardia di Finanza [Italy's Finance Police] — surrounded the island, and permitted nobody to climb [the structure] anymore, and even I was barred. And then they sent a platoon from La Spezia, yes, La Spezia, to mine the bases, we shall say, in order to destroy it [the structure]...
BOOOOMMM!! [Images of destruction]
...And later they even said that the Russian navy (the island guard said this) — ha ha! — that it was the Russian submarines that were nearby! But one knows that the journalists [will believe almost anything in order to print a story]...
[PRINTED QUESTION] OF THE WHOLE ADVENTURE, WHICH WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT?
...Truly the 1st of May, let's put it this way, when we made the constitution of the island — we were six professionals, all who loved liberty, etc.., etc. We also thus had lunch on the island. I remember that there was even a Roman, a person who used to come visit us often. He had a small boat. He left from Rimini, came over to see us, would stay a day on the island, and then he would return home. And, I repeat, he really loved the island, and therefore we had this celebration, this lunch to be more precise, with everyone that was present. Maybe that was the moment... That is, nobody [back then] would have thought that the frogmen would come to blow up the island.., and therefore...
[Question of the Interviewer] Looking into the future, where do you see a new Rose Island?
I don't think there could absolutely be an outlet [like that], also because in Italy liberty is a Utopia, because now we cannot even travel in the car anymore...
[Question of the Interviewer] And after did you continue to go on vacation to Rimini... afterwards?
No... no. Sincerely, I love to travel. In fact, I have been in every place on earth because, as I say, I like [it]. I would travel even now if I had greater availability of ranges [itineraries]. In fact, I have been in America, I have been in Brazil, I have been in... Thailand...