This short animated film was commissioned by the Roma Education Fund to explore and raise awareness about the educational barriers Roma children face across Europe. I wrote the story of Django, an eight-year-old Romani child on his first day at school. Through 2D hand-drawn animation, stop-motion, and paper cut-out techniques, I used artistic storytelling, blending metaphor, empathy, and visual poetry, to bring Django’s journey to life.
The inspiration came from listening to Django Reinhardt’s music, which led to a wonderful collaboration with his niece, singer Dotchy Reinhardt. She not only became the voice of all characters in the original Romani language, but thanks to her generosity and commitment to the project, I was also able to use original Django Reinhardt music in the animation.
Character Illustrations
Django&Fifi
Django&Mom
Lyuba&Fifi
Mrs. Teacher
Fifi The Cat
Django With His Book
Highlights
POV Viewer = Camera
3D Globe - After Effects
In The Classroom
In The Classroom
Nurture and Care
Na le tu pala tye punnre, le tu pala tye godya
Storyboard
Set & Props / Making of
Paper Cut-Out Characters
Credits
Written, directed, and animated by Silvia Sardellaro || head of color Andreas Fischbach || props and titles Micol Favini || sound design Vladimir Isailovic Romani-language voice Dotschy Reinhardt || original music by Django Reinhardt.
Commissioned by the Roma Education Fund (Budapest). Created using 2D hand-drawn animation, stop-motion, and paper cut-out techniques.
Special thanks to Dotschy Reinhardt for her generosity, collaboration, and meaningful contribution to the project; to Dr. Micol Brazzabeni for her guidance and expertise in ensuring the content and storyline remained grounded in a reality-based perspective; to Tom Bass, Art Director at the Roma Education Fund, for his supervision and guidance; and to Gyula Vámosi for his assistance and for translating the dialogues from English into Romani.
The film has been presented at the Tricky Women Animation Film Festival (Vienna), during Human Rights Day screenings in Cagliari, Italy, and other animation film festivals.
Commissioned by the Roma Education Fund (Budapest). Created using 2D hand-drawn animation, stop-motion, and paper cut-out techniques.
Special thanks to Dotschy Reinhardt for her generosity, collaboration, and meaningful contribution to the project; to Dr. Micol Brazzabeni for her guidance and expertise in ensuring the content and storyline remained grounded in a reality-based perspective; to Tom Bass, Art Director at the Roma Education Fund, for his supervision and guidance; and to Gyula Vámosi for his assistance and for translating the dialogues from English into Romani.
The film has been presented at the Tricky Women Animation Film Festival (Vienna), during Human Rights Day screenings in Cagliari, Italy, and other animation film festivals.
