Brutal, beautiful animation traces an African teen’s journey to Italy
In The Meatseller, Selinna Ajamikoko recounts the long and devastating journey that took her from Nigeria to Italy, a migration she began when she was only 15. Directed by the Italian animator Margherita Giusti, who met Ajamikoko in Rome through an organisation supporting asylum seekers and refugees, and produced by Luca Guadagnino, the film follows a dream that began with a simple wish: to continue her mother’s work as a meatseller and earn enough to support her family.
Giusti transforms Ajamikoko’s testimony into animation of striking emotional force. As the story moves from childhood hope to exploitation, danger and survival, the film’s colours, textures and visual language shift with it. Images of cattle and predatory animals become an extended metaphor for vulnerability and violence, giving form to experiences that are almost too painful to narrate directly. The result is a brutal yet deeply humane work, one that honours Ajamikoko’s voice while revealing the terror, courage and endurance contained in her passage across borders.
Director: Margherita Giusti
Producer: Luca Guadagnino
