Riccione, August 17, 2026 – “This is the sea of Riccione, many people, very beautiful sea, it is the Italian summer.” With these words Enrico Vanzina described his stay in Riccione during the days of Ferragosto, sharing in a reel published on his Instagram profile images of the beach and the sea of the Green Pearl.
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A simple and immediate story, addressed to his followers, which conveys the image of a full and lively city in the heart of the tourist season. The sea, the beach, the people and what Vanzina calls “the Italian summer” thus become the elements of a contemporary postcard of Riccione.
It was precisely during the stay that the recognition awarded by the municipal administration also arrived. The mayor Daniela Angelini presented Vanzina with the title of “Ambassador of Riccione in the World,” in the presence of the deputy mayor and culture councilor Sandra Villa and the tourism councilor Mattia Guidi.
The dedication of the recognition to his mother Maria Teresa
A moment of great personal value for the director, screenwriter, and film producer, who wanted to dedicate the recognition to his mother Maria Teresa: “I am here in Riccione, I have the honor of receiving from the mayor this beautiful certificate that names me Ambassador of Riccione in the world. My mother’s dream, who wanted me to be an ambassador, has been fulfilled very late, but better this way. Mom, I am very happy for you. Goodbye Maria Teresa.”
The story of Riccione through Vanzina’s cinema
Vanzina also helped tell the story of Riccione through cinema. The city was in fact the protagonist of “Under the Riccione Sun,” the 2020 film written by Vanzina and set and filmed in the Green Pearl. Distributed by Netflix, the film brought Riccione before a very wide, also international, audience, making the city and its summer one of the central elements of the story.
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The film achieved immediate success on the platform: already on July 2, 2020, the day after its release, “Under the Riccione Sun” was ranked first in the Top 10 most viewed titles on Netflix in Italy, a position it maintained in the following days. A particularly significant result in a year marked by difficulties for tourism and which helped bring Riccione back to the center of the imagination of the Italian summer.
Strengthening the link between film, city, and pop culture was also the musical component. The title of the film indeed recalls “Riccione,” the hit by Thegiornalisti written by Tommaso Paradiso and became one of the emblematic songs of summer 2017. The song helped to tie the city’s name even more deeply to pop music and the imagery of a seaside holiday.
With the awarding of the title of “Ambassador of Riccione in the World,” the municipal administration wanted to recognize Vanzina’s ability to promote and tell the story of the city through different languages: from the big screen to the contemporary communication of social networks.
His message entrusted to Instagram thus fits into a story that began with cinema and now continues on social media: Riccione returns to the center of the imagination of the Italian summer, as a lively, crowded seaside city capable of speaking to an ever wider audience.
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