Netflix has announced high-profile Italian original documentary series “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi,” written and directed by Britain’s Mark Lewis, who won an Emmy for the docu-series “Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.”
The streaming giant has also dropped a trailer for the docuseries, produced by British TV production company Raw. The show will premiere globally on Netflix on Oct. 20.
The series is the latest probe into a case that started on June 22, 1983, when Emanuela Orlandi, a 15 year-old girl living in Vatican City, disappeared under mysterious circumstances that are believed to have involved the Vatican. The case made headlines around the world.
Orlandi vanished on her way home from a music lesson. Since then her family and investigators have struggled to solve the mystery. Various theories have linked the girl’s presumed abduction to intrigue involving secret services of various countries, the Italian mob, and the Vatican, which has denied accusations of a coverup.
The four-part “Vatican Girl” probes the case through new interviews with the Orlandi family and witnesses whom a Netflix statement says have never been heard before. “These new voices paint a picture of a dark web of secrets kept hidden at any cost,” the statement says.
The series is anchored by Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi and Italian investigative reporter Andrea Purgatori, who has covered the case from the outset.
The docu-series is written and directed by Lewis. Chiara Messineo is the producer and Tom Barry and Dimitri Doganis the executive producers for Raw. Lewis and Messineo will divulge more details about “Vatican Girl” during a panel at Rome’s MIA Content market on Thursday.