Young Caregivers: a film to see at school, to become aware of real life
Our colleagues from COMIP, an Italian association helping children of mentally ill parents, under the leadership of Stefania Buoni, member of the Eurocarers Young Carers Working group, organised a screening of the movie King of Atlantis in order to raise awareness on the mental health of young carers.
See their press release below:
“When we went to school, we had no idea that other boys and girls experienced similar situations to ours. And even today the subject is taboo. Today we bring films like this to schools because mental health belongs to everyone and giving voice to our stories means making prevention. What we lacked”. Stefania Buoni is 41 years old and the daughter of parents with a mental disorder. She never wanted to be a “victim” of a painful story and in 2017 she founded COMIP – CHILDREN OF MENTALLY ILL PARENTS ngo.
On the occasion of World Children’s Day, COMIP offers schools an initiative to shine a light on the hidden lives of minors and young adults who have caring responsibilities. In absolute numbers, the young caregivers in Italy would be 391.000, 6.6% of young people between 15 and 24 years: an estimate that comes from the Report on health conditions and the use of health services in Italy and in the European Union by Istat , a figure almost doubled compared to 2015 and which still does not take into account the impact of Covid-19 nor carers under the age of 15. The real impact of parental mental illness on children and adolescents is surely underestimated and probably affects at least 1 million of minors.
This year COMIP raise awaraness on the topic online with a film screening on MyMovies open to all Italian schools: just book your virtual seat through the portal: https://www.mymovies.it/cinemanews/2021/178854/. The movie chosen this year is KING OF ATLANTIS, a Swedish film unreleased in Italy, a dramatic comedy about unconditional love and identity. At the center of the story is Samuel, who takes care of his father suffering from schizophrenia and is convinced that he is the king of Atlantis. When Cleo enters his life, the boy realizes that he doesn’t have to feel guilty about wanting to live his own life, but the love he feels for his father makes it difficult for him to win his freedom.
The event, completely free for the audience, will take place on Friday 19th November from 10.30. At the end of the movie in connection from Sweden there will be Simon Settergren, actor and screenwriter, to answer the questions asked by students: the film is inspired by the story of his family. “We want to break the stigma of mental illness and give a voice to those who are children and shouldn’t carry all alone burdens like this on their shoulders,” says Stefania.
“Stories help us understand the world we live in. They save those who tell them but also those who benefit from them ”, she explains. “The film we chose this year never came out in Italy, we as ngo had the subtitles translated. We liked it very much, it represents us. This is why we have decided to make it available to the Italian public. And we will continue to do so in the future to help youth who today are living what we have experienced”. Interested teachers and schools, but also anyone else interested in viewing, can book their virtual seat directly on the MyMovies website. Schools can request further information and in-depth didactic material by writing to: scuole@comip-italia.org.
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