If I Were Fire

How do the kids of our times play when they are away from screens and unsupervised by adults trying to give an educational spin to their games? This question - that animates this project - suddenly seemed urgent to me, particularly as I noticed increasingly alarmed voices on the mental health of children rise across multiple platforms. In the ''western world'' the coming of smart-phones, for instance, is considered just one of many factors making children likely to become less independent, more risk adverse, more isolated and eventually more anxious adults. Were this to be come true, a whole generation less strong and more fragile, it would be a disaster of proportions comparable to the climate crisis or to global war. So, I decided to concentrate on this rarely looked upon group of humans: western kids just before adolescence, before sex enters their lives with its revolutions. Kids of our times - surrounded by apocalyptic visions, unrest, wars, surrounded by confused adults and mind-blowing technology. . Kids of their age are ''the roots'' of our society, as the off-springs are the roots of any living community. I realized they are little but full-blown humans who burn like flames to understand and live this strange life they got. Through their little observed perspective, like a unique looking glass, we can see us - humans in the world - in a way that is very different, archetypical, rough and devoid of the consolatory superstructures typical of us, adults.