Willy Monteiro: The story of the chef killed in Colleferro becomes a cartoon (with a different ending)

“A hug can make even the toughest bully a child again. This is the message we have been trying to spread since Willy passed away.” It is Milena, sister of Willy Monteiro to present the project in a video message sent to the Film Festival Willy- Different is good a 3D action short film made by the students of the Sude Academy of Verona. «This project has a very deep meaning for us because through a simple and effective way we get across great messages. Willy loved cartoons I think they have a moral that can help the little ones learn something important for adulthood. It teaches us the value and strength of friendship and above all the strength of being different and better, it highlights the part of us that can do good to others”

Willy Monteiro Duarte was 21 years old, a cook, and defended a friend who was being attacked by bullies. For this reason, on September 6, 2020 he was killed in Colleferro (Rome) after being beaten: Willy was originally from Cape Verde, an island off the coast of Africa. The brutality of the attack had a strong impact on Italian public opinion, so much so that The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella awarded him the Gold Medal for Civil Valor in memory. An episode that has now become a 3D animated short film entitled Willy – Different is good. The five and a half minutes of the 3D short were made with pioneering technologies in Italy, the artistic director is Stefano Siganakis, who is also the CEO of Side Academy. One hundred thousand hours of work were needed, distributed for academic needs over a three-year period, which involved about seventy students. About eight thousand frames were produced by the animators of Side Academy, guided by their teacher Arduini. For the production, the “Unreal Engine” software by Epic Games was used in an innovative way. This software has been the reference “game engine”, for several years, for the world of video games and has allowed the development of titles such as Fortnite, Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Jedi and The Fallen Order.

In the development of the video Willy’s story comes to life through the adventures of a little alien, threatened by bullies, who not only want to humiliate him, but also film the beating and then share it on social media. From this idea comes a contrast between the bad guys destined to give the audience the emotion of an unexpected ending, different from what happened to Willy. The high technology and the transposition into a “cartoon” environment make the story told in the short emblematic of what happened in real life. With the difference that in fiction the differences serve to make society evolve, and not to create conflicts.