Action! at School is an initiative developed from a social cinema project carried out at the I.C. “Giovanni Paolo II – De Marinis” school in Bari, with the aim of producing a short film addressing issues such as youth distress, bullying, and discrimination.

The school-based experience Beyond the Walls: Social Cinema at School served as the starting point for the development of an educational model that uses filmmaking as an educational, participatory, and socially engaged tool.

The project transforms the school into an audiovisual production lab, where students and teachers actively collaborate in the creation of an original short film based on social themes connected to the educational environment, including identity formation, peer pressure, psychological distress (such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders), body image, social withdrawal (hikikomori), and forms of social interaction mediated by the web.

Through a hands-on programme covering all stages of film production, students develop technical and storytelling skills while experiencing the filmmaking process firsthand on set.

The production provides professional equipment and a dedicated film crew, giving students the opportunity to take part in a real cinematic production process.