On the culture of the three continents
Festivals
Since 1991, the Associazione Centro Orientamento Educativo ETS launched in Milan the African Film Festival, which evolved in 2003 into the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival – FESCAAAL, the only festival in Italy entirely dedicated to the cinemas, realities, and cultures of the three continents. In contrast to the common mass-media representations of these contexts, FESCAAAL offers a broad and unprecedented panorama of auteur films – true windows into the changes, creative ferment, and dynamics of today, removed from stereotypes and oversimplified approximations.
Within FESCAAAL, the School Space has always been nurtured and promoted through matinées reserved for classes, featuring the presence of the festival’s directors and guests available for discussions after the screenings. In 2019, the School Space transformed into a festival within the festival and was renamed MiWorld Young Film Festival – MiWY, targeted at both lower and upper secondary schools and formal and informal educational centers. Its aim is to promote quality cinema, offer a multifaceted perspective on the themes of the 2030 Agenda, and encourage active participation for change. Thanks to its online format, since 2021 both FESCAAAL and MiWY have expanded nationwide, while—with the support of partner associations—the network of venues hosting in-person screenings has grown across various Italian regions.
Visions of a Different World: The Passion of a Visionary
Don Francesco Pedretti
The African, Asian, and Latin American Film Festival – FESCAAAL, along with all the initiatives of the Associazione Centro Orientamento Educativo ETS, was born from the visionary outlook and passion of Don Francesco Pedretti, an Ambrosian priest, a lover of the beauty in all forms of art, and a firm believer in an education based on intercultural exchange, sharing, and the wonder of the aesthetic experience.
A person with a burning passion who initiated international cooperation projects in the fields of education, training, inclusion, health, culture, the enhancement of local natural resources, agriculture, and food security.
Since its inaugural edition, FESCAAAL has hosted some of the greatest African filmmakers of all time—such as Idrissa Ouédraogo, Sembène Ousmane, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Nouri Bouzid, and Raoul Peck—and has witnessed the rise of directors like Abderrahamane Sissako, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, and Alain Gomis, accompanying them from their early short films.
MiWorld Young Film Festival – MiWY was launched in 2019, drawing on the pedagogical legacy of Don Francesco Pedretti. It presents a selection of recent feature and short films created by directors working within the geographic and cultural spheres of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
COE ETS is currently engaged in multi-sector international cooperation projects in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, and Bangladesh. It also welcomes young people aged 18 to 29 involved in the National Civil Service—both domestically and abroad—as well as volunteers of all ages.
Per conoscere la storia e i progetti di COE ETS.