(ANS – Giffoni Valle Piana) – Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, world champion Paralympic water skier Daniele Cassioli y Michela Vallarino, President of the Salesian NGO Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS – International Volunteering for Development), will present the animated short film “Melkam – Beyond the Boundaries of Disability” at the Giffoni Film Festival.
The film tells the true story of Melkam, a young Ethiopian woman blind from birth who overcame extreme socio-economic vulnerability, prejudice, and exclusion.
This Italian-Ethiopian production brings to the international stage of Giffoni the inspiring journey of Melkam, who, after a life of hardship in Addis Ababa, became a respected weaver, a wife, and mother of three. Despite living on the streets, begging, and being forced into marriage, she rebuilt her life—by choice and determination—through education and vocational training in a society where people with disabilities are often marginalized and accused of being cursed.
The short film was made possible by VIS with the creative collaboration of students from the Graphic Design course at the Salesian Technical School of Mekanissa, Addis Ababa. The students met Melkam in person, heard her story, and then spent a week in class contributing ideas and inspiration. The final production was completed in Italy.
This year’s Giffoni Film Festival, held from July 17 to 26 in the small town of Giffoni Valle Piana, is themed “Becoming Human”—a theme perfectly aligned with the short film’s message, which aims to raise awareness about discrimination, disability, and the power of social redemption.
“This project is a beacon of hope,” says Daniele Cassioli. “Sharing it at Giffoni makes it even more powerful. I often think young people are truly ready for inclusion, and telling them this story will be an emotional experience for all of us. Visual impairment is not often represented when we talk about disability—people usually think of prosthetics or wheelchairs. But this story shows vulnerability goes beyond what we can see; it can touch us all.”
The short film is also available in an accessible version for the visually impaired, with audio description provided by Artis Project through the MovieReading app, in collaboration with the National Association for the Visually Impaired y DescriVedendo.
This project was made possible as part of “I-LEAD: Job Inclusion through Accessible Education and Digitalization”, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and implemented by VIS in Ethiopia in partnership with the Salesians of Don Bosco, ECDD, CBM Italia, y Albergo Etico. The goal is to strengthen access to vocational training, employment, and social inclusion for people with disabilities and vulnerable youth in Addis Ababa, the Oromia region, and Southern Ethiopia.
Watch the short film here: