The convoy of trucks that for months drove through the roads of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Gambia and Nigeria to bring outdoor cinema to more than 75,000 people will now arrive in Rome. The 135 evening events, organised as part of the CinemArena project, which were financed through the Africa Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in partnership with the Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS) and the IOM (International Organization for Migration), alternated the screening of entertainment films and promotional videos on irregular migration, a workshop and theatre performances. This important experience is now being brought to Rome, where it will be narrated through the screening of a film by Piero Cannizzaro and a short documentary by Paolo Colangeli at the Casa del Cinema on 9 September.
Launched in 2002 by the Italian Cooperation Service, the CinemArena project drove along the roads around the world for years, carrying out awareness raising activities on numerous themes. The 2018-2019 edition aimed to inform spectators of the risks run by migrants along irregular migration routes. The arrival of the CinemArena truck convoy at 135 African villages offered the opportunity to talk to the people of the Countries of origin of migration flows on the risks that are met along irregular migration routes, aware that, even if some decisions must always be taken freely and respected, it is essential that a person’s decisions also be based on correct and truthful information.
