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SOFIA FERABOLI

SCAM SLAVE: From Hell to Home

Illustrations for the award winning documentary

Director: Timothy Blackwood

2026

Dramatic pencil illustration of hundreds of frightened people sitting at computers in a scam centre.
Poster illustration for a documentary short film, featuring a dramatic pencil illustration of hundreds of frightened people sitting at computers in a scam call centre, with a young Black man seen from behind walking through a scam compound below.
OVERVIEW

“Scam Slave: From Hell to Home” follows Gideon Mwesezi, a young man from a poor village in Uganda who accepts a data-entry job in Thailand, hoping to earn enough to support his family. When he arrives in Bangkok, he discovers the job is a trap and is trafficked across the border into Myanmar, where he is forced to work inside a scam compound connected to the global “pig butchering” industry.

Surrounded by thousands of other trafficked workers from around the world, Gideon is forced to participate in online fraud schemes while enduring violence, threats, and psychological abuse.

 

His story reveals how modern slavery has become a driving force behind one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal economies, with tens of thousands still trapped inside these compounds fighting for survival and the hope of escape.

Pencil illustration of a young Ethiopian man working on a computer in a supermarket, explaining something to his Thai colleague.
Dramatic illustrated night scene of a group of Thai gang members harassing a young Ethiopian man.
Dramatic pencil illustration of a frightened young Ethiopian man in the back of a car surrounded by armed Thai military personnel.
Pencil illustration of hundreds of people typing on computers inside a huge scam centre.
Dramatic pencil illustration of a frightened young Ethiopian man in a scam centre, escorted by a Chinese gangster.
Dramatic comic-style illustration of a Chinese gangster with legs covered in tattoos walking into a room holding an electric baton.

As the illustrator of the project, I helped shape the visual language of the documentary by creating a series of illustrations that tell what happens inside the scam compound.

The illustrations were created in pencil, using a black-and-white approach to preserve the documentary’s raw tone and reflect the psychological weight of Gideon’s experience, adding another layer of storytelling to the film.

Dramatic illustration of a beaten young Ethiopian man lying on the ground with his hands handcuffed to a table leg.
Dramatic illustration of a beaten young Ethiopian man with his arms bound and suspended from a hook.
Pencil illustration of Thai military personnel holding rifles aimed forward.
Pencil illustration of a Thai taxi driver waiting in a car at the airport.
Dramatic pencil illustration of a frightened young Ethiopian man on his knees.
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