The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) contacted me to create a film to celebrate its 50th anniversary. I was asked to interview seven distinguished physicists around the world who, supported by the Centre, had become successful scientists and game-changers on the global stage. The Centre was founded in 1964 by the Pakistani Nobel Laureate Abdul Salam. He had the idea of connecting advanced Western physicists to those in developing countries, who were isolated and had no access to the latest information and discoveries in this particular scientific field. The ambition was considerable: a global network of scientists united by the same universal language – mathematics. With the help of Thai graphic designer Ambhika Samsen we used chalk drawings on a blackboard to tell part of the story. Chalk is what physicists generally use to communicate their work and logic processes through equations and numbers. It is a humble and easily accessible material available even in poor countries. This graphic element gave us the possibility to communicate visually complex concepts that had happened in the past and could not, therefore, be filmed.

The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS), is an autonomous international organization, founded in 1983 in Trieste, Italy, by a distinguished group of scientists from the South under the leadership of the Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate Abdus Salam. It was officially launched by the secretary-general of the United Nations in 1985. TWAS is today a UNESCO unit and it represents the best of science in developing countries. Its main mission is to promote scientific excellence and capacity in the South for science-based sustainable development.
In this video I edited images that I shot all around the world documenting TWAS activities and the scientists’ environments.

This documentary was shot in Kenya with the goal to demonstrate the impact of the financial and networking support given by the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) to scientists from the developing countries. I chose to intertwine the stories of four different protagonists : Vitalis Wafula Wekesa, a PhD microbiologist coming from a very poor village in the south of Kenya, Segenet Kelemu an Ethiopian biotechnologist leading a top-research centre on food security in Nairobi, a team of chemists working at Nairobi University to ameliorate the quality of drinking water in the Kenyan capital and Zeyaour Kahn a leading scientist working on an innovative technology to alleviate hunger and increase food production among local farmers in Lake Victoria region. The film has been shown at scientific forums world-wide and has been broadcasted by RAI, Italian National Television.

The World Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) asked me to create a video to promote the joint program of PhD fellowships with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
I went to Beijing- China to film in five of the most distinguished scientific centres where young researchers from the developing countries could work on their PhD dissertations.
I interviewed the researchers as well as the CAS President, Ban Chun Li and filmed the different activities run in the centres.

Gender gaps are particularly high in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid professions of the future, like computer science and engineering. Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This gap is much higher in the developing countries. The Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD) is the first international forum to unite eminent women scientists from the developing and developed countries with the objective of strengthening their role in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership. OWSD today has more than 7000 members throughout the developing world and it provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists at different stages in their careers. This video promote OWSD activities by documenting fellows’ voices and images taken during my long lasting collaboration with the organisation.

I went to Myanmar and to Sudan to film the launch of the local National Chapters of the Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD). Two important events for local women scientists: for the first time they were establishing an institutional network to reinforce their status with regard to local governments and to connect to each other. I tried to document not only the event but also these women’s efforts and motivation in developing science in challenging contexts, where science is under-financed in spite of the need and where women are often seen as second class citizens.

This video was shot in Arusha, Kilimangiaro region, Tanzania. It is part of the web-series “OWSD Stories”, video portraits of women scientists, who have made an impact in the developing countries.
Dina Machuve is a computational scientist. Thanks to a grant received from the Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World, she is developing a diagnostic tool based on deep learning that can facilitate early detection of three primary poultry diseases. A simple app on a farmer’s mobile phone can reduce flock losses, save profits for small holders and provide access protein-rich food sources for the local populace.