During my 3 years with Discovery, I was in charge of development, production and distribution of several multi-platform and multi-stakeholder initiatives on environmental and humanitarian affairs for prime-time television, online, radio, cinema and live-exhibit distribution:
– The Earth Defenders: on sustainability of food production and the impact of Lavazza’s (one of the world’s largest coffee distributors) ESG programme.
– Casa do Menor: developed and executed a communication plan aiming to raise the profile of Casa do Menor, a Brazilian NGO working with street children in Europe and Latin America.
– Stories of Domestic Violence: a documentary created for International Women’s day.

I also acted as spokesperson, handled media relations and supervised press and promotional campaigns, and led teams both in HQ and on location in countries including Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, Italy.

This documentary tells of my journey through five African countries (Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia) to investigate challenges facing women as they seek to contribute to Africa’s social, technological, and economic development. It was filmed whilst traveling with Steve McCurry, who was shooting the images for the 2015 Lavazza calendar. In September 2015, some of my own photographs from this trip were featured in the critically acclaimed Milan exhibition “The New Faces of Africa.” The main focus of this exhibition was the importance of child education and nutrition for sustainability and the alleviation of poverty.
(Discovery Networks/ Lavazza, 2015)

A one-hour TV special event aired on multiple Discovery Networks channels on November 25, 2014 and 2015, to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The film features interviews victims of abuse, abusers, criminologists, psychologists, doctors, and prison directors.

“Casa do Menor: The Other Face of Brazil” features the stories of abused and marginalized youth in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza. It was shot with the support of the Brazilian NGO Casa do Menor, which cares for 2000 children per year, many of whom suffer from drug addiction and are coerced into prostitution.
(Inside Productions/ Discovery, 2013)

Credits: A film written, directed and presented by: Davide Scalenghe, produced by: Davide Scalenghe, NGO Casa do Menor, Luca Argentero for Inside Productions, associate producers: Federica Masin, Giovanni Doddi.

Language: Italian, English, and Portuguese with English subtitles.

These are the photos featured in my solo exhibition “The New Faces of Africa,” which ran at the Hotel Boscolo in Milan from September to November, 2015.

“PRESS RELEASE: A unique journey that lasted five months, in the heart of Africa; a report on the trail of a proactive, vital and constantly evolving continent, able to look to the future; a photographer with a keen eye that captures the essence of the men, women and children of those lands and highlights their pride and desire to be leaders of a free and independent tomorrow.

Photographer and video reporter that has dedicated his profession to international investigative pieces and reports, Davide Scalenghe exhibits a selection of 20 photographs shot during the trip that has taken him to Morocco, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, alongside Steve McCurry. The occasion was that of the documentary and photographic project that accompanied the shooting of the Lavazza calendar 2015 “The Earth Defenders” by the American photographer, a collaboration between Lavazza and Slow Food, and that Scalenghe turned into a film broadcast by Discover’s Real Time.

The main themes of Expo 2015 are those of the exhibition “The New Faces of Africa”: food and nutrition, basic human need, but also symbol of freedom where rural production is the sector that employs entire villages and that puts African men and women at the center of their own destiny.

Many such communities have grown considerably in recent years and have today achieved full autonomy: farmers are able to sell their product directly, without the intervention of intermediaries, increasing the direct gain for the maintenance of their household.

In partnership with LAVAZZA.”