Only a Child
Only a Child
Simone Giampaolo

Switzerland | 06:00 | 2020

Only a Child can be described as a visual poem which gives shape and colour to the words spoken by 12 year-old Severn Suzuki at the United Nations' Rio Summit in 1992, using meaningful images and powerful animated allegories. Severn’s speech is a child's desperate call to action aimed to those adults who can make a difference to the future of our planet. That is, all of us. Starting from the original speech from 1992, I edited a version which doesn’t refer to that particular UN Summit nor any specific group of people, in order to make this message universal and true for every viewer. As the speech unfolds we see animated kids from around the world – of different gender, age, features and characteristics -speaking Severn's words. The aim was to show that these sentences could be pronounced by any child of yesterday, today and, in particular, tomorrow.