Tam Tam :: Outside the lines :: Greg Hackett

The right to citizenship at birth, ‘ius soli’, is still unapproved in Italy, denying over a million children, born of immigrant parents, automatic citizenship.

The film captures the story of an Italian basketball team, who were refused access to regional leagues because of the Italian born players’ immigration status.

Former Italian basketball champion, Massimo Antonelli, started the team at a disused holiday complex in Castel Volturno, an area that is made up of 25,000 inhabitants, a fifth of which are registered migrants. Being free to join, it offered local teenagers a chance to participate in after school sports and was sustained by generous donations.

The FPI (Italian Basketball Federation) rules stated that to compete, only 2 players per team could be migrants, which posed a problem for Antonelli and his team of hard working and committed players. Given his media status, he soon found himself at the centre of a debate about Italian citizenship and integration, and the question ‘what does it mean to be Italian?’ was brought to the fore.

to see the moving images you have to click here.