SMK Factory is an independent audiovisual production company specializing in documentary filmmaking. The collective project was established in 2009 and restructured in its current form in 2019. Our core belief is in the power of cinema to create social impact, driving us to recognize the importance of storytelling and the need to share the meaningful narratives conveyed by our films. Producing a film for us entails not only focusing on the content but also on the production process itself, as well as its
distribution.
We strive to cultivate a sense of community around each film we produce, utilizing crowdfunding campaigns and widespread distribution strategies to fuel social and political dynamics. Our approach values popular co-production and bottom-up distribution as two interrelated aspects of the filmmaking process. Through this model, we have successfully created 12 films in the span of 13 years, bringing national attention and exposure to stories that may have otherwise remained untold. Our most recent films, including The Harvest (2017), The Milky Way (2020), I'm still here (2021), and Sarura (2022), represent the culmination of our journey, reflecting our mature and conscious approach. These films serve as a testament to the belief that independent cinema is not only viable but also essential, particularly in today's context.
Additionally, in 2013, SMK Factory founded OpenDDB – Distribuzioni dal basso, an independent distribution platform, further expanding our commitment to the bottom-up approach in sharing and promoting films.
Teresa Sala works between Milan and Bologna as a freelance director and filmmaker. Since 2013 she has worked with film studios, foundations, public and private institutions by making documentaries, institutional videos, commercials and content for the web. Beyond to commissioned work, she pursues his own personal experimenting with different languages, contents and different formats.
Her filmography includes documentaries, short films, commercials and experimental projects. Her films have been presented at numerous international festivals. In 2017, he made Non è amore questo, a docu-fiction about the emotional and sexual life of Barbara Apuzzo, who suffers from arthrogryposis.
The film has won numerous awards at film festivals, between whose ViaEmili@DocFest and Visioni Italiane. In 2018 she was selected for the first phase of the Biennale College call.
Tiziana Francesca Vaccaro, actress and author, lives and works in Milan. In 2015 she wrote and performed the show Terra di Rosa - lives of Rosa Balistreri, on tour in Italy and Europe and winner of several national awards, which later became the
comic dramaturgy Terra di Rosa - lives of a show. In 2019, she writes and performs in the show Italy Syndrome. Or of Suspended Lives, which stems from a reflection on female migration from Eastern Europe and which becomes in 2020 the graphic novel Sindrome Italia.
History of our caregivers, in collaboration with cartoonist Elena Mistrello and Becco Giallo Editore. This last one has recently received major national awards, including the BookCiakAzione award within the Mostra Internazionale of cinematographic art in Venice. She is the presenter of theatre workshops for which she also collaborates with Sciara Progetti Teatro in Emilia Romagna and the Milanese realities Teatro degli Incontri and Qui e Ora Residenza Teatrale, this last one active in the bergamasque region is recognised in 2018 by MIBACT as an
'innovation theatre production company'.