Funkino is a crowdfunding project for an animated short film made by Italians and migrants to talk about work and integration.
The animated short film is to be presented at film festivals and in preparatory classes in Italian schools. The Funkino initiative by the Zabbara cultural association aims to create a model for integration based on creativity by bringing together migrants and professionals in the fields of film and animation.
Animation to talk about work
Daniele Saguto, one of the project's directors, told ANSA that the idea for the project came about a year ago when director Alessio Genovese met some young migrants in Palermo when he was working on a movie. "They wanted to work in the film industry, as actors or technicians. So we decided to create this initiative, which is both creative and socially minded at the same time," Saguto said.
The short film's topic will be that of work, including jobs that migrants had before migrating, dream jobs, and not finding work. "Work is the jumping-off point because that's where true integration comes from," Saguto said. He said the decision for an animated short enables "abstraction from the analytical narrative in order to talk about reality through paradoxes and by playing on stereotypes".
"A cartoon has a creative feel that's broader than that of a documentary, and animation is a universal language that reaches everyone," Saguto said.
Migrants as stars of creativity
The project includes a training workshop for 15 young asylum seekers in Palermo migrant reception centres. "We will be all together and we will tell our stories, from which we will find ideas to create first a fairy tale, then a storyboard and finally an animated cartoon," Saguto said. He called it a "participatory" creative experience.
"Because we won't decide the story nor will they: it will be a joint product". During the workshop, participants will discover each phase of producing an animated short film. The crowdfunding campaign ends on August 8 and the training workshop will take place in the fall. In Spring 2018 when the short film is complete, it will be presented at film festivals and used in schools for educational purposes.Funkino also includes a competition aimed at the project's participants to submit film subjects. The winner will receive a five-month work grant to work on Zabbara productions. "Giving these young people a chance for expression can help to dismantle a public-opinion image that's full of prejudices," Saguto said. "We hope these ideas will have a following on a national level".