Ortensia
I met Ortensia in Trento, during a Cube of Truth with AV, back in August 2022. After a few months, I got to know her better. I got to learn about her kindness, her selflessness, her joy in giving to others, her love for animals (especially her dog, Alma), and how she fights for the human and the non-human. But I also got to know her fears about the present, insecurities about the future, and doubts about the past. I thought her story was worth telling because she inspired me to believe in the individual power everyone can hold, and the need to act instead of giving in to the paralyzing feeling of not ever doing enough; of not ever being enough. With this visual research, my goal was to better understand her world of activism by following her around protests, actions of civil disobedience, peaceful demonstrations, educational presentations, and public disruptions. While filming and interviewing her, I understood that the question "Why do you do this?" can only be answered with "Because it simply cannot be otherwise". Her need to act against injustice, to act for non-human individuals is something that comes from within, something visceral.
I deeply thank her for letting me into her life and her mind.
I hope this project can fairly portray her,
I hope this project can fairly portray her,
through her words and actions,
through my eyes.