Femminielli

“Femminiello is a Neapolitan word denoting all facets of homosexuality. The story which we recount is precisely that of a group of femminielli, a story spanning a period of ten years. It is also the story of what we lived with them, at their private parties, at weddings, in prison and faced with death. It all started one night in 1982, on a pavement behind the piazza Garibaldi, while we were shooting a documentary film about them for television. From that day on, our paths began to interweave. The TV film was finished, but they wanted to remain in contact with us, as we did with them. They would call us up to let us know about different events, a carnival party, a pilgrimage or a death, and we went to film them. First of all, on 16 mm film, then using BVU and later Betacam, as television recording techniques developed. This continued on for eleven years, until last year when we understood that we could finally complete the film, as their adventures (those of the Pollera, Moira, Barbara “Sandy Show”…) had drawn to a close.” (Michele Buono, Carmine Fornari, Piero Riccardi)