Riva history
Riva’s 180-year legacy is celebrated in a new documentary that premiered in Milan, Italy.
28 July 2024
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A new documentary will tell the story of over 180 years of Riva history. Riva Per Sempre: A History of Achievements and Innovation is written and directed by Francesca Molteni and Antonio Vettese and produced by Yacht Design, Boat Show Television and Muse Factory of Projects.
The documentary, which premiered in Milan, aired in prime time on Sky Art in mid-July and is now being streamed on the Now platform.
Riva Per Sempre looks back over the highlights in Riva’s history. The boatyard, founded in 1842 on Lake Iseo by shipwright Pietro Riva, has become a leading player in the industry, known for its innovative, elegant designs.
The documentary explores Riva’s evolution, from the first fishing boats to the racing powerboats of the 1920s and ‘30s and from the age of Italy’s la dolce vita to the industrial development promoted by Carlo Riva.
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Riva Per Sempre spans the period from the Aquarama to the launch of the first Aquariva in the noughties and the return to superyachts with the Riva Superyachts Division, culminating in the brand’s grand 180th-anniversary celebrations in 2022 and, more recently, the dual listing on the Hong Kong and Milan stock exchanges.
“When passion takes shape, it becomes a Riva: style, innovation and beauty,” says Ferretti Group CEO Alberto Galassi.
“Great stories are an experience handed down from generation to generation, and this extraordinary documentary tells us in moving words and images how to conquer the world with the power of a dream.”
The documentary is set in the Sarnico and La Spezia shipyards, the Superyachts Division in Ancona, The Gritti Palace in Venice and the Riva Private Deck in Lezzeno on Lake Como and celebrates the people who have contributed to the brand’s legacy to date.
With the help of archive footage and more recent images, Riva’s story is told in the words of Ferretti Group CEO Alberto Galassi and Piero Ferrari, Ferrari vice chair and head of the Ferretti Group Strategic Product Committee.
Period footage of Carlo Riva and stories told by artist Mimmo Paladino, actor Pierfrancesco Favino and designers Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta of Officina Italiana Design are interwoven with interviews with the production managers of the La Spezia and Sarnico shipyards, and analysis by Elena Dellapiana, lecturer at Politecnico di Torino, and journalist Antonio Vettese.
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