About the project
“If you want to discover a new universe, you must either walk through the wilderness of a forest or look through the eyes of a child.”
This story was compiled by the children of Sanza Mobimba School in Mbomo and members of educational team. In lingala language, sanza mobimba means full moon, and that’s exactly at this crucial moment, during the tale, that the friendship between the little fish and the crocodile reach its limit: “The laws of nature applied to everyone and everyone had to respects them”.
Encouraging local kids to draw from the elements of nature, this short film created interesting characters with which to tell this stories.
Over the course of several workshops, the children in this film progressed from initial character creation, to storytelling and development. All creative content, including art direction and stage design, has come from the children themselves. Adorned in costumes made from the natural elements of their home, the children are the proud actors in their own adaptation of this traditional Congolese story.
The Little Fish and the Crocodile placed and won in more than a dozen international film festivals, including winning at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. It was also shown in several museum installations, including Barberini Museum & Museum de Fundatie, featured in a segment on PBS Newshour, and continues to be shared on digital festivals for kids all over the world.