Set in Trento, Italy, ‘Mila’ is an animated short film, which tells the story of a little girl who loses her family during the Second World War. Mila survives a bombing raid, and takes cover in the house of a young woman who comes to her rescue.
Mila holds dear to her the last remnants of her past: a worn out old hat, and a tattered ticket for the Carousel. She finds in the house a hidden rocking horse, and a music box, both of which evoke memories of her mother. The young woman repairs Mila’s hat as well as she is able, and the pair are drawn together through their shared ordeals.
‘Mila’ is the brainchild of director Cinzia Angelini, who has worked as an animator and story artist in feature productions for over twenty years.
She’s worked on ‘Prince Of Egypt’, ‘Eldorado’, ‘Spirit’, and ‘Sinbad’, among many others. Cinzia began her career at Dreamworks, and is now a story artist at Illumination Entertainment. Cinzia explains her inspiration for ‘Mila’:
“’Mila’ is set in my hometown, Trento, Italy, and is the story of a girl and two women, caught in the bombing of Trento in 1943. I want to show the impact that conflict has on the innocent civilians, and especially, on their children. Most of all, I seek to celebrate their strength, resilience, and the hope that they cling to as they fight for their very survival. This girl, now woman, who inspired me to create this movie, was a child of WWII. She is also my mother.”
The film is the combined voluntary effort of about 250 artists from 25 countries, with the shared goal of completing the film. The work has taken five years so far, with the ‘Mila’ team working as a virtual studio, running successfully using email, Google Docs, phone, Skype, Slack, Box, and many other methods to maintain a high level of communication, keeping track of all the assets, tasks, and other challenges which come by virtue of working with a team spanning several time zones. The team comprises four core groups, based in the USA, Italy, Mexico, and the UK, and includes professional artists in Italy, Australia, India, France, Belgium, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil – plus more – a veritable United Nations of artists all working together to tell a war story that focuses on those participants rarely mentioned, the children.
To find out more about ‘Mila’, please visit their official website where you can also sign up for their mailing list. Watch out for our exclusive interview with ‘Mila’ director, Cinzia Angelini, coming in the next few weeks.
You can help tell the story of children caught up in war by joining the ‘Mila’ Film Thunderclap. Details for how to sign up can be found here.
Every person who joins will be automatically entered into a random drawing to WIN a Mila Film Prize Pack Including:
- Mila Maquette
- Mila Original Celebrity Fan Art
- Mystery Box Filled With Mila Goodies
- Sketchbook
To be entered, simply join the Mila Film Thunderclap by Friday May 6th at Midnight Pacific Standard Time (USA). The winner will be selected and announced on Saturday May 7th, a few days before the Indiegogo Campaign launches.
(Please note the prize will be delivered to the winner at the end of the campaign no matter if they reach their funding goal or not)
