A documentary film featuring young artists and a major concert to tell the true story of the outskirts of Milan: that is Blues in Mi.
"The outskirts of Milan are often painted as a place almost like the Wild West. I, who know my city well — because I've travelled around it, was born here, and have written many songs about it — knew that wasn't exactly the case. I knew it was possible to tell a different story about the outskirts. That's why my latest project was born." These are the words of Folco Orselli, singer-songwriter and creator of Blues in Mi: quartieri, identità di Milano, which aims to give space, substance and voice to the people who live in the outlying neighbourhoods — so often the victims of a distorted narrative — and to the artistic and cultural initiatives that take place there.
"I felt the urge to show that the outskirts aren't just wild places like the Bronx, but places that harbour potential energies waiting to be rediscovered and valued, starting with the young artists who live there. We started with music, but we'll make room for different art forms and sport."
The project's goal is to produce five documentary films, which will come together into a single feature-length documentary and a major concert event to give back to the community the fruits of roughly two years of "identity research". The common thread running through the entire narrative is blues music. "First, because it's the style that has been with me since I started playing, and second because blues isn't just a musical genre: it belongs more to the realm of feelings," Folco explains. "It's one of those musical styles that makes it hard to pretend. Blues is something you carry inside you — if you don't have it, it shows. And then, blues was born in the labour fields, as music of liberation from slavery. Well, perhaps there are still mental forms of slavery from which we need to free ourselves when it comes to the outskirts. That's why I think it's the most fitting genre for the project."
The first documentary film was already released on 27 October; it is set in the western neighbourhoods of Milan — Baggio, Giambellino and San Siro — and is titled Hip hop, rap e trap, la musica dei quartieri. The protagonists are young artists Lokita, Islam Malis and Jay Dee, and the aim is to bring three cultures into dialogue through music: Italian, Egyptian and Filipino.
"For the first documentary film, I carried out the research myself on Instagram and Facebook. For the second episode, we instead launched a 'call to action' on radio and in the metro. In particular, in the stations of the Milan Metro we obtained — thanks to IgpDecaux, our media partner — 240 spaces for two weeks to advertise the project through posters featuring a QR code linking to information about the second documentary film. This time we chose dance and sport as our theme, specifically those practised most in the outskirts, such as parkour, skateboarding, roller skating — in short, the more 'urban' sports."
The search focused on young people aged 18 to 25 living in the outskirts of Milan. "At the same time, we also contacted dance schools and gyms in the outskirts, asking them to send us footage of the young people. The ultimate goal was to bring 40 youngsters — 20 boys and 20 girls — to the actual casting sessions, which were then held in January at The DAP – dei Missaglia art park di Urban Up |Unipol, our sponsor." Orselli's aim, however, was not simply to select talents — three for dance and three for sport — but above all to listen to the voices of young people, their ideas about the city and about the future. The second episode was filmed in spring 2023.
The hope is that the project will make a concrete contribution to overcoming the prejudice that weighs on the outskirts of Milan and its inhabitants. "This is the action we are making available to the city," Orselli concludes. "Newspapers and the media prefer to report on the criminal side of the outskirts — the baby gangs, the situations of decay. With this project, we instead try to give a voice to the young people who don't identify solely with that narrative. What we do with Blues in Mi is give young people the chance to express their own ideals, their own vision of the world, by telling another story of the outskirts. Those who watch it will draw their own conclusions."
The latest outcome of Blues in Mi is Green river blues dancing sport, the new chapter of Folco Orselli's documentary film project, this time structured across seven instalments. The subjects of the videos are seven boys and seven girls from 14 peripheral neighbourhoods of the city.
In the first instalment, the topic discussed was "What do you think of your neighbourhood?" At the heart of the young people's contributions were the opportunities, limitations, problems and possible solutions. Here are the voices of the young artists interviewed by Orselli.
The second instalment of Green river blues dancing sport is dedicated to security — real and perceived — in the city's outlying neighbourhoods. A subject that is not only concrete but above all political, in which problems are often exaggerated or downplayed depending on what is convenient. But what do those who live in the peripheral neighbourhoods every day really think? Does the gloomy aura that surrounds them truly have reason to exist? And if so, what are the possible solutions? Let's hear them from the words of the young artists selected for the project.
This is the third theme addressed by the young people taking part in the second Blues in Mi documentary. The question of integration is particularly felt in Milan and cannot always be considered "resolved". Some young people, born and raised in the Milanese outskirts — and therefore Italian — find themselves asked about their origins because of their skin colour or the shape of their eyes, something that perhaps does not happen abroad. For others, life continues to be lived on parallel lines, distant from one another. What might the solutions be? Here is what the young people said to Folco.
We know it: Milan is one of the most expensive cities in Italy and the cost of living is extremely high. For a young person who is studying or preparing for an artistic career, it is very difficult to rent a flat, pay the bills, sometimes even just go out for dinner or experience the city. Milan, so obsessed with its "performance culture", puts us to a severe test. Is it worth sacrificing one's happiness to keep up with this relentless race? Here are the answers from the young people taking part in the project.
The most European of Italian cities: that is how Milan has been presented in recent times. But is it true? Can we really compare it to Paris, London or Berlin? How far along are we in being able to say that Milan truly is an international city? Here is what the young people of Green River Blues Dancing Sport think.
They are called Neet — young people between the ages of 15 and 29 who are "Not in education, employment or training", meaning they are not following any educational or training pathways and are not working, a phenomenon that the pandemic has unfortunately made worse. The peripheral artists interviewed by Folco Orselli urge their peers to try to focus on themselves and their own dreams, to ignore the "noise" coming from social media that makes everyone else's lives seem more beautiful than their own, and to begin exploring their inner world — sometimes, even by asking for help.
What do young people living on the outskirts of Milan want to ask the city's Mayor? In this final episode of the second chapter of Blues in Mi, Folco Orselli encouraged the young participants to put forward questions and proposals. For some, helping and supporting the peripheral neighbourhoods means having a safer Milan in a few years' time; for others, the outskirts must not be neglected and should be included in the wave of change that is sweeping across the whole of Milan; others still are calling for affordable housing and more green spaces. The voice of the outskirts is here — let's listen to it.
Blues in MI: quartieri identità di Milano has the patronage of the Comune di Milano and the Fondazione Cariplo. The project has been realised thanks to the support of Urban Up and Unipol and in collaboration with Play for Change. LifeGate is among the media partners of the initiative.
To find out more and take part in the casting calls for upcoming docufilms, you can visit the website of Blues in Mi.