SHADOW GAME: THE MOBILE STORYTELLING OF UNACCOMPANIED MINOR MIGRANTS

In this article, I discuss a project that actively involved unaccompanied migrant children (UCs) in the production of two feature-length documentaries about their experiences. These documentaries are part of Shadow Game, an interactive transmedia project that also includes a short documentary series, an adventure game, a photo exhibition, and an advocacy campaign (https://shadowGame. eu/en/homepage/). The analysis focuses primarily on the two documentaries, although the project as a whole must also be considered. In the context of upcycling and stacked-evidence journalism, the project makes each product published on the platform a piece of a unique and complex transmedia mosaic. A substantial component of this project, which took five years to complete and is still active today, positions the protagonists themselves as co-authors and co-narrators of their migration stories. In particular, the two films are largely composed of material shot by the UCs themselves with their smartphones. The two films have been showcased at documentary film festivals, in some cases accompanied by discussion workshops with other children of the same age as the protagonists. The reflections presented in this article also draw upon focus groups carried out within the framework of the Festival dei Popoli in Florence (I) in November 2023, which included the two films in the “Popoli for Children and Teenagers” programme.