Synopsis
Ziki is a Congolese boy living in a village with his mother. One day, while the two are playing, Ziki discovers a mysterious tunnel winding beneath the kitchen floor. Curious, he decides to venture in, but as he walks, he slips and falls to the bottom of the tunnel. As he travels through it, he discovers a world built on exploitation and war in his homeland.
About
ICART’s Perspectives. In 2026, the Grand Prix, across all categories, was awarded to ZIKI.
This Italian animated short film aims to highlight, on the one hand, the mines of the Congo, where workers are reduced to slavery under the control of soldiers; and, on the other, our industrialised societies, which are dependent on coltan, a mineral extracted from Congolese soil under inhumane conditions.
The short film is funded by Amnesty International Italia, Artemisia Centro Antiviolenza Onlus, as well as the Ministry of Culture and the SIAE as part of the Per Chi Crea programme.
The jury for this award praised both ‘the commitment and the power of the subject matter, as well as the technical mastery of the form. The directors did not merely tell a story; they made the audience feel it. The 2D animation allows them to play on the contrast between a refined aesthetic – a visual gentleness – and a raw, violent reality.’ The film employs a variety of animation techniques throughout the narrative – a bold choice that reflects the transition from one world to another, from Ziki’s innocence to the horror that her daily life becomes. Here, the animation does not seek to soften the subject matter but rather confronts the viewer.”
Highlighting a film like *Ziki* is in keeping with the values championed by the ICART Regards Festival, as short films provide a space for activism and resistance. The subject matter explored in *Ziki* is not unfamiliar, but it remains largely overlooked; thousands of children are growing up in this reality marked by violence.
