And the Ship Sails On won the 1984 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It is set on a luxury cruiser on the eve of World War 1, where a group of artists, mostly habitues of the opera world, have gathered in grand operatic style to bid farewell to the great singer Edmea Tetua who has left instructions that her ashes are to be scattered off her native Adriatic island. Talking directly to the camera, journalist Orlando introduces the viewer to the motley crew of self-absorbed, eccentric and individualistic artists. But the harmony of their world is soon to be jeopardised when a horde of Serbians mysteriously appear on the boat.