February 19, 2024

A calendar of screenings of “Refugee Girls” with UNIMED members

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UNIMED proudly carries out a number of activities in the cinema field in order to contribute to spreading messages that reflect its core values, to promote intercultural dialogue and give voice to the stories of peoples which are too often unknown.

In this context, UNIMED launched a calendar of screenings within its member universities to project the outstanding film documentary “Refugee Girls” by Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso.

Refugee Girls is a documentary that follows the lives of Robina, Bozhena and Sofia, three young refugee university students. Robina, from Afghanistan, follows courses at the Sapienza University of Rome. In Barcelona, Bozhena and Sofia, Ukrainian girls, meet during a Spanish course for refugee students. Intertwining these stories, the documentary explores the plight of refugees and the opportunities offered by Europe. Human resilience and inner strength emerge in extreme situations. Refugee Girls invites reflection on acceptance, solidarity and the creation of a better future for those fleeing conflict and persecution. Watch the trailer here.

The documentary is the result of a collaboration between Sapienza University of Rome, the Mediterranean Universities Universities (UNIMED), Fundació Solidaritat of the University of Barcelona, the Association of European Universities (EUA) and the International Organization for Migration (partner associate) within the UNI(di)VERSITY project funded with the support of the Erasmus+ program of the European Union.

Refugee Girls gave me a chance to engage with the new generation of 20-year-old refugee girls and enter their lives. You feel a rippling energy made of depression, dreams, the desire to change the world and great instability. Broken dreams of teenagers in the prime of their growth who are forced to grow up and take on great responsibilities”, said the Director.

First UNIMED member to open dances is the University Fehmi Agani, in Kosovo, which screened the documentary on February 21, followed by an online debate with the film director.

This was followed on 19 March by the Link Campus University in Rome, Italy:

12 April was the turn of the University of Salento, Italy, which was honoured to welcome the film maker and one of the protagonist in presence in Lecce.

On the 10th of June it was the turn of the University of Padua. The screening also welcomed a group of students from the university who shared their stories of fleeing their country, arriving in Italy, their dreams and their hopes for a better future. Founded on the values of freedom and equality, the University of Padua continuously undertakes initiatives aimed at promoting the acceptance and respect of human rights. Thus, the activation of the fundraising campaign to support students in difficulty is not only aimed at refugees and asylum seekers, but at all those considered AT RISK due to situations that prevent them from enjoying the freedom to study and conduct research in their home countries.

On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, on Thursday 20 June, the CUG – Comitato Unico di Garanzia of the University of Pavia organised the event “The Open University: Meetings and Dialogues on Migration and Inclusion” with various initiatives: workshops, book presentation, testimonies and screening of the documentary “Refugee Girls”

The event was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the members of the CUG, the Collegio del Maino, UNIMED, the MERGED centre of the UniPv, the OSA Office for Sustainable Actions, the SAR Italy network and the refugee students of the UniPv who were available to tell their stories.

If you are interested in organizing a screening at your institution, you can express your interest by sending an e-mail to unimed@uni-med.net 

Director:  Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso
Production:  UNIMED
Producer:  Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso
Editing:  Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso
Cinematography:  Daniele Di Pietro, Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso
Lenght:  65′
Nation: Italy
Year:  2023

Watch the trailer here