My Name is Nico - a Love Story

According to data provided by Rainbow Europe, Italy ranks 35th place out of 49 countries in terms of LGBT+ rights. The testimonies collected by Arcigay Italy highlight that 73% of LGBT+ people have suffered violence. Italy has been recently called by the European Union to fill the gaps regarding specific law against crimes and hate speeches. The so called Zan law aims to sanction homotransphobic gestures and actions was approved by the Chamber just on 4 November 2020 but is still awaiting approval from the Senate.

Can traversing the journey of a person who is becoming himself, prompt us to reconsider the web of a country's culture that makes his path of awareness uncertain and painful? My Name is Nico aims to build a portrait of my childhood friend Nico, who is transitioning from female to male. My Name is Nico explores gender and the politics around it through an intimate look into the life of Nico.

The political insensitivity of Italy towards LGBT+ people became a reality through the felt experience of Nico’s life. The portrayal of Nico and his life surrounded by friends, family, uncertainty and joy is a challenge to the idea that LGBT+ people should be denied equal rights. The right to be yourself is inalienable and so I share Nico’s choice to be himself.

The whole project is made in close collaboration with Nico, he is an active part of it. Nico once said: “in Italy there's just one stereotype that people feed on trying to classify something they don't really know”, so the final aim of the project is to return an intimate story with the intent to create empathy and consequently identification. The images have a concrete and abstract form: I followed Nico in his daily life and I visually represented what Nico tells me about his personal journey of identification as a man. We explored his roots and his need to stick to what Nico calls “my nature.”