Thursday May 28th, 2026 | 6:30 PM (doors open at 6 PM)
Italian Cultural Institute
710 Sansome Street, San Francisco
SCHOOL OF LIFE
Directed by: Giuseppe Marco Albano
Documentary, Italy, 2025, 87 min.
Starring: Nicolò Govoni
In most parts of the world, school is a crucial environment for growth, learning, and self-fulfillment. Then there are places where school saves your life. The mission of the non-profit organization Still I Rise is to solve the global education crisis by empowering the most discriminated against, poorest, and most vulnerable children through an innovative educational model aimed at providing an excellent, free education to every child in the world.
School of Life is the documentary that tells the stories of these children and their daily lives within the facilities founded by the Still I Rise organization, founded by Nicolò Govoni. A journey through the most remote corners of the Earth, discovering some of the world’s most complex settings, where children usually have no future, but find in Still I Rise schools the hope of a better tomorrow.
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ABOUT
NICOLÒ GOVONI
Nicolò Govoni is a writer and human rights activist who serves as President and CEO of the nonprofit organization Still I Rise. Raised in Cremona, he left home at the age of twenty to volunteer in India, where he lived for four years and earned a degree in journalism. At twenty-five, he founded Still I Rise, a humanitarian organization dedicated to building and operating schools that provide top-tier education to some of the world’s most vulnerable children across Greece, Syria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Colombia, and South Sudan. In 2020, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Since 2015, he has written eight books. His life and the story of Still I Rise are the focus of the documentary film School of Life (2025), produced by Groenlandia and Rai Cinema. He currently lives and works in Nairobi.
GIUSEPPE MARCO ALBANO
Giuseppe Marco Albano (Cisternino, 1985) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and producer. Raised in Bernalda, he trained between L’Aquila and Parma, specializing in arts, theater, and cinema. He has directed several short films, including Il cappellino, Xie Zi, and Stand by Me, the latter winning the Nastro d’Argento in 2011. In 2012, he made his feature film debut with Una domenica notte. In 2013, he took part in the Venice Film Festival with AnnA, a short film addressing the issue of “blank resignation letters.” In 2014, he directed Thriller, which won the David di Donatello in 2015. He founded the independent production company Mediterraneo Cinematografica and has directed the Premio Tenco since 2016. Among his most recent works are Noi ce la siamo cavata (2022) and the documentary Eroici, which won a Nastro d’Argento in 2025.