What happens to African migrants once granted political refugee status? Which challenges they will need to face and what are their prospects for a decent livelihood in Italy? In Turin an abandoned clinic has been squatted by more than 200 refugees since December 2008. All of whom are legal. Set in a working-class neighborhood, this 5-story building is now inhabited by Somali and Sudanese refugees. There is running water in one room per floor for 80 persons on each floor, there is electricity but no heating. Khaled, Shukri and Ali, as all other migrants, have been travelling through the hell in order to arrive in Italy. Their hopes crash with a life condition “suspended”. Three emblematic characters guide us in a story that reveals, with intimate look, a collective history, an emblematic tale of all European countries and about their immigration policies and the changes the social fabric of European cities is undergoing.
Rossella Schillaci gained a MA in visual anthropology and direction of documentaries at the University of Manchester (UK). She has worked as assistant director in TV programs. She worked in India, where she participated in the EU-India Documentary Initiative. In 2009 she has been selected to the Berlinale Talent Campus. She produced and directed several documentaries for RAI, Sky and Al Jazeera English.
Listen to Me (2000), Practice and Mastery (2005), Singing (2007), Shukri. A New Life (2010), Other Europe (2011)
