The African Studies Center (ASC) sponsors conferences, lectures, exhibits, film series, and cultural performances throughout the year. These events are designed to foster understanding of Africa among members of the U-M community and the public and to advance the exchange of resources and knowledge between U-M and its partners in Africa.
In addition to our yearly programming, ASC considers funding requests to cosponsor lectures, events, performances, and activities that coincide with the our mission to promote a broad and deep understanding of the region. Request to cosponsor an event»
Va' Pensiero: Storie ambulanti (Walking Stories) by Dagmawi Yimer
Screening and Q&A with the director
Join us for a screening of Va' Pensiero: Storie ambulanti (Walking Stories) (2013), followed by a conversation and Q&A with Ethiopian-Italian filmmaker Dagmawi Yimer.
A leading voice in migrant cinema in Italy, Yimer is also a co-founder of the Archivio delle Memorie Migranti, a collective project dedicated to documenting migration from the perspectives of migrants and preserving their stories as part of Italy's contemporary cultural memory.
Va' Pensiero follows the lives of Senegalese street vendors in Italy while examining anti-Black racism, migration, labor, and everyday forms of exclusion. Beginning with the aftermath of the 2011 racist attack in Florence that killed two Senegalese men, the film explores how migrant communities negotiate belonging within contemporary Italian society. Through multilingual testimony—including Italian, Wolof, and French—and observational documentary practice, Va' Pensiero challenges conventional narratives of migration by foregrounding the voices and lived experiences of migrants themselves.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Yimer about the making of Va' Pensiero, documentary filmmaking as a form of witnessing and political storytelling, and the representation of migration and Black life in contemporary Italy.
The event is part of “Migration, Memory, and the Politics of Witnessing: A Residency with Filmmaker Dagmawi Yimer,” October 7–9, 2026. For more information please write to gricco@umich.edu and amberbal@umich.edu.
A leading voice in migrant cinema in Italy, Yimer is also a co-founder of the Archivio delle Memorie Migranti, a collective project dedicated to documenting migration from the perspectives of migrants and preserving their stories as part of Italy's contemporary cultural memory.
Va' Pensiero follows the lives of Senegalese street vendors in Italy while examining anti-Black racism, migration, labor, and everyday forms of exclusion. Beginning with the aftermath of the 2011 racist attack in Florence that killed two Senegalese men, the film explores how migrant communities negotiate belonging within contemporary Italian society. Through multilingual testimony—including Italian, Wolof, and French—and observational documentary practice, Va' Pensiero challenges conventional narratives of migration by foregrounding the voices and lived experiences of migrants themselves.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Yimer about the making of Va' Pensiero, documentary filmmaking as a form of witnessing and political storytelling, and the representation of migration and Black life in contemporary Italy.
The event is part of “Migration, Memory, and the Politics of Witnessing: A Residency with Filmmaker Dagmawi Yimer,” October 7–9, 2026. For more information please write to gricco@umich.edu and amberbal@umich.edu.
| Building: | North Quad |
|---|---|
| Website: | |
| Event Type: | Film Screening |
| Tags: | Cinema, Film Screening, Immigration, Q And A, Romance Language |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Romance Languages & Literatures RLL, Comparative Literature, Institute for the Humanities, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, African Studies Center, Language Resource Center, Arts Initiative |
