Ballata femmenella

Before—and distinct from—trans identity, there were (and still are) the femminielli—or femmenelle, in Neapolitan. A community richly present in popular imagination, now a symbol of something that reaches far beyond its local specificity: a way of inhabiting gender that holds together marginality and the possibility of inclusion. Long used to putting themselves on display, yet more rarely given the chance to speak in their own voice, in this documentary the femmenelle finally take the floor. They share their lives, desires and expectations for the future, as well as the struggles for recognition and dignity. Faces, both familiar and less so, pass before us, including Porpora Marcasciano, La Tarantina, activist Loredana Rossi, and Italy’s first transgender couple to marry, Tommy Florek and Samantha Acierno. In the background (yet truly at the center), Naples once again becomes a stage for fertile tensions.

Trailer...