Giorgio
Since the beginning Giorgio came across as an exuberant, bright guy, with a sharp tongue and a lot of irony: an explosive mix.
He is passionate about politics and especially about African history: his live broadcast with a friend on the Malian empire is very memorable, and I am sure few know about (you can find it on his Instagram profile @humanfactor_giorgio).
He is a skilled Kizomba dancer, a typical Angolan dance - because Angola is his homeland -, but his accent is deeply Sardinian. This reflect exactly what Giorgio is: a guy with a soul divided between two countries, with two belongings that are also distances. Not entirely Angolan and not entirely Italian.
It took 3 months of meetings to bring out his deep feeling about this, extremely interesting to tell.
That middle ground of those who live between two cultures, lands, traditions, flavors, smells, different languages.
That feeling of being a bit at home in both places but never fully.
That state of being a bit "foreign" everywhere.
That reality of having a name like "Giorgio," understandable in one language but unpronounceable in another to the point that your grandmother invents a new name to call you.
Living in a perpetual state of cultural clash.
DANAIT
Danait is pure energy
Even her magnificent afro seems to have a movement of its own, a swaying and almost hypnotic dynamism which seems to have been artfully made to divert attention from his intense and penetrating gaze, from which I am sure nothing truly escapes.
In the weekly meetings she doesn't talk much, but if she decides to, she does it with dry phrases rich in pungent irony, using a fluent Italian full of nuances, all accompanied by a contagious smile, sometimes almost a mocking one.
This way of presenting herself seemed already clear and well-outlined in the story that we published in March of last year. Not in vain It was titled DANAIT’S GAZE.
We were anxious, and maybe even a little fearful, about what she would provide us in her stories for the Human Factor self-narration workshop.
Instead, in these first three months, Danait has deliberately hidden herself. Little or none of the earthquake of emotions that dwells in his soul have emerged.
The reasons? I think there are multiple.
We have tried to ask her, more than once…
But the question is lost amid her curls and her thunderous laughter.
In her latest publications, however, little by little,
something about her is coming out, and we just have to wait and keep following her,
I'm sure she will amaze us.
ASMIREY
Asmirey is amazing. She appears shy, silent; during our group meetings she listens, with her big eyes she observes the others talking. Sometimes she lloks serious, but then suddenly she smiles, and we see another world, full of light, and when she speaks, she stuns you.
As for her narrative, at the moment she is a bit stuck; as she herself says, she does not know how and where to start talking.
We recently had a face-to-face meeting with Asmirey, as with everyone or almost everyone– indeed, face-to-face-to-face because Marida was also there; it was very sincere and, for me, very nice; although I can’t say here what has emerged because it was too personal.
I can certainly say that Asmirey is strong, much stronger than she herself believes, and when she will understands how and where to start, her story will be powerful. Also beacuse - coming from a culture in which it is not expected that women express their thoughts, as she herself says - she instead wants to do just that.
We await her, with no rush.
SNIT
Snit tells us, "I don't know how to do a voice narration, for example I would have liked to tell this thing about my mother...," and begins to speak with fluency. Natural, simple, she is able to say the most difficult and hard things in such a kind and polite way that she could not offend anyone even if she started saying insults. Which of course she would never do.
We told her, "Snit, you just did it, to perfection. Tomorrow we will send you the edited recording of what you have just said; this is exactly what you need to do, there is nothing to add or remove." She then listened to the recording and seemed to be happy with it. But she doesn't want to publish it, because she wants it to be something that she has made, and she will do it, we're sure. Snit never talks nonsense. She will publish it as soon as she will be ready.
