At Icam, Romain Mailliu (119 Grand Paris-sud) is doing his end-of-studies internship as a consulting engineer in the banking sector: a promising career ahead of him. But as he writes his graduation letter, his quest for meaning prompts him to question this path...

While writing this letter, Romain explains, " I realized that I wanted to work with young adults who hadn't had my chance. Discovering that a billion people live in shantytowns was a revelation. " The young man then embarked on an international solidarity volunteer program with the Catholic Delegation for Cooperation (DCC), where he worked with the NGO Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y). This association helps young people aged 17 to 24 from the slums to find decent work.

Opening our eyes to poverty

Volunteers live in poor neighborhoods and help young adults to set up economic activities with a positive impact on their community: "For over a year in Jakarta, we worked with young people todevelopa low-cost, high-quality drinking water production business.In this way, they are building an experience that will facilitate their professional integration. This mission has enabled me to meet some exceptional young people who embody - without realizing it - a whole contemporary program: resilience, determination, agility, commitment, courage, etc."

Back in Paris - in the midst of the pandemic - Romain decided to join a strategy consultancy specializing in scaling up social and environmental innovations. It was a highly formative year, which he followed with a second in London, to initiate the environmental strategy of an international construction company.

A film to challenge conventional wisdom

" Those two years made me make the big leap from the shantytown to the small world of consulting in Paris and London : I became aware of preconceived ideas about poverty, I looked for ways to change them... and the idea of cinema came to me. " Life Project 4 Youth then helped him recruit a film crew, and Romain left for Lebanon in February 2023.

The film will portray the lives of young adults living in extreme poverty. In Lebanon, the friendship between a young Lebanese woman and a young Syrian woman; in Indonesia, Diane, who has a passion for drawing and works as a graphic designer in a marketing agency, despite still living in her slum; in India, Laxmi, who dreams of becoming a dancer despite the disapproval of those around her; and Mamadou, a Guinean refugee in Paris who is committed to human rights.

Working for both people and the planet

Romain's initiatives follow a guiding principle: " towork for social justice and against global warming at the same time, whether as part of an NGO in the field, at the corporate level or via the cinema - an art that is conducive to raising awareness - as I'm doing now." Romain hopes to reach as wide an audience as possible: " Getting people to think about our consumer society, contributing to sustainable development and fighting against inequalities, that's what drives me at 200% ", he reminds us. Let's bet that his film Youth Visions, in cinemas at the end of 2024, will inspire its viewers with his thirst for social justice.