IT
This morning the jurors of the GENERATOR +18 section of the Giffoni Film Festival 2023 will attend in Sala Galileo the screening of the film WE WILL NEVER BELONG written and directed by filmmaker Amelia Eloisa. After spending 3 years writing the screenplay, she directs a feature film for the first time. Her story makes everyone reflect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
This film can be considered an act of self-love and love for the people who have been and are part of her life. Many of the situations in the film are autobiographical, such as the story of her parents and of her mother falling in love with another woman. Telling Emi’s story was for the director a therapeutic journey, in order to externalize her frailties and fears, which did not allow her to express her true self for years.
The story of the teenager Emi is not far away from our reality, just because it is set in Mexico. The complex universe of teenager years are for Emi the beginning of a complicated situation that is difficult for her to handle. Being a young girl with separated parents, discovering that her mother is a lesbian and has a partner whom she loves madly, are the elements that led Emi to lose control of her life. This impossible-to-accept reality leads her to run away, taking refuge at her father’s house with his new family. The arrival of his stepdaughter – the sensual and wild Gala – begins to shake Emi’s certainties. Getting to know her, and spending time with her from morning to night, makes her wonder about her sexual orientation. Strange how the reason she decided to leave her mother is the same one that is now putting her in serious trouble with herself.
Director Amelia Eloisa who was present during the debate among the Giffoni Film Festival’s biggest jurors, characterized by their orange T-shirt, answered their questions and reflections, explaining in the clearest and most straightforward way possible, all the work she has done. It was important for her to tell this story through the eyes of a woman, since most of the time, the worldview is provided by a purely male gaze. In Mexico, given the LGBTQ+ theme, it was received with a double vision: that of a deeply religious country, but at the same time, also deeply colorful and nuanced. Among their reflections, what caught their attention were some symbols included in Emi’s story: water and flowers.
In the first casethe element of water, for the director, represents the feelings that come and go in a person’s life, which can be calm or agitated. As for flowers, the presence of white lilies, after the death of the grandmother, has a dual significance. While in Mexico they are used to pay tribute to a person who has passed away, in the universal language, they represent spirituality and pure love.
The journey of self-discovery made by the film’s protagonist is the same one as Amelia Eloisa’s journey in her 36 years. For her, life should be taken as it comes: “If you feel like kissing someone do it, we don’t know if we will have time to do it in the future.”
And finally, taking a cue from the theme of #Giffoni53, a juror invited everyone to reflect on a very important concept that is often underestimated or forgotten: today we are all indispensable, like cogs that are part of the same gear. The message of diversity should not be seen as criticism, but as an asset.