By Kexin Zhang
In her interview with our Queer Italian-Canadian Artists project, director Luis De Filippis indicated that she thinks “it’s really important to have stories where trans people are supported, accepted, and loved by their families. These are the stories “[she] want[s] to tell.”
This central theme is beautifully illustrated in her short film For Nonna Anna (2017) and in her feature film Something You Said Last Night (2022). In these works, De Filippis employs two different styles to portray transgender people and their loving relationships with their families. As De Filippis also mentions in her interview, her works are specifically connected to her identity, and elements representing Italian-Canadian experiences are prominently featured and highlighted in For Nonna Anna and Something You Said Last Night.
For Nonna Anna’s storyline is rather straightforward; the short film narrates the story of a trans girl named Chris who looks after her nonna and it explores the tender bond between them. With very little dialogue, the movie skillfully captures the shared vulnerability that is possible between a nonna and a (trans) grandchild. Throughout the film’s run of about ten minutes, we observe carefully depicted emotional exchanges between nonna and Chris.
Through its meticulous focus on small decorative items in the house, the film evokes a nostalgic Italian-styled home. It features numerous ornaments, including small sculptures, picture frames, delicate glassware, and many Catholic elements like figurines, images, and sculptures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. These decorations, along with interior-design elements such as white curtains, floral-patterned wallpaper, and crystalline lighting, create a classical vintage aesthetic typical of a diasporic Italian home, enhancing the presence of heritage and identity in the film via material culture. It is also evident that these decorations belong to nonna, as they appear aged, and some of the images look very old.
The overall atmosphere can be perceived as quite contradictory. While the house’s decorations evoke warmth and family history, the overall tone suggests a sense of decay, accentuated by relatively dark lighting and cool colours. Furthermore, nonna is not portrayed as the traditional loving grandmother but as a weak, unhappy old lady who has lost her ability to move and her independence. The climax of the film occurs when Chris takes off all her clothing in front of nonna to reveal her body, and a loving bond is shown through their glances and the way nonna caresses Chris’ hair.
Compared to For Nonna Anna - a quiet, calm, nostalgic film with minimal dialogue - Something You Said Last Night portrays a modern Italian-Canadian family filled with chaos and arguments. This film centers on a family trip to a cottage, featuring the main character, trans woman Renata, her younger sister Siena, and their parents (mother and father). The film consists of a series of small, fragmented events, including fights between the sisters and conflicts between them and their parents. Despite these frequent clashes, the family members quickly reconcile without needing to apologise.
In contrast to the small nostalgic decorations in For Nonna Anna, Something You Said Last Night presents a completely different lifestyle through elements like vaping, social media, and pop music. The overall tone also diverges significantly, with Something You Said Last Night featuring extensive on-location shooting in natural settings that include forests, sea waves, and sunshine.
However, there are still many similarities between the two films. Both portray trans girls in Italian-Canadian families and share important motifs with nuanced meanings. For example, the director does not emphasize or sensationalize the trans experience, unlike many other trans-themed films. In both films, De Filippis handles the theme of trans identity subtly: there is no dialogue directly addressing the main characters’ queer identity, and the words “transgender” and “trans” are never mentioned. Instead, all elements related to transness are showcased through details. This could potentially reflect the culture of silence among Italian-Canadians, mentioned by many queer Italian-Canadian artists in the Here & Now anthologies (Canton 2021 & 2024) and in the Queer Italian-Canadian Artists research project. Their families often do not speak publicly about their queerness, but, in both films, actions speak louder than words. In the films, we see how openly trans individuals are respected, accepted, and loved by their families. Silence, here, in some way normalizes transness within the context of an Italian-Canadian family.
In Italian culture, the nonna is typically seen as a conservative, Catholic grandmother. In the Here & Now anthologies, for instance, authors often refer to their struggle to come out to their nonna. Although nonna does not feature prominently in Something You Said Last Night, we can still sense her close relationship with Renata and her acknowledgment of her granddaughter’s identity through their phone conversations. Therefore, both films portray the image of a nonna showing support for her trans grandchild. This portrayal is heavily influenced by the director’s own nonna. As De Filippis mentioned in her interview: “My maternal grandmother, being Catholic, [...] believed that if Jesus made me, then I am perfect, and there's nothing wrong with me. We should just love you.”
The director is also very skilled at shaping characters through details, and we can find many common scenes in both films. For example, both trans main characters take on caregiving responsibilities for their families to different extents. In For Nonna Anna, there are numerous shots of Chris doing housework, such as cleaning the washroom, feeding nonna, and changing her bedsheets. In Something You Said Last Night, Renata is seen blowing and brushing her mother’s hair and washing dishes. These motifs of housework not only highlight the caring personalities of the characters, but also reflect the close relationships between family members in Italian culture and traditional gender roles.
Moreover, both films contain significant shower scenes. In For Nonna Anna, Chris showers with her nonna, and in Something You Said Last Night Renata showers with her sister Siena after they get drunk together. These shower scenes are crucial moments: a family member inviting another to shower together symbolizes the complete acceptance and embracing of each other’s bodies. This act of showering together, without any cover, can be understood as a metaphor for being out of the closet completely, without needing words, without it being an exceptional or sensational event.
De Filippis’ two films, For Nonna Anna and Something You Said Last Night, while depicting different types of Italian-Canadian families, share a profound commonality: unwavering solidarity and deep kinship among family members. Through the inclusion of a transgender character within the familial embrace in her works, De Filippis effectively depicts a beautiful facet of Italian-Canadian culture, where love and acceptance speak louder than words and are stronger than discrimination.
Works Cited
Canton, Licia, ed. Here & Now: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing Edited by Licia Canton. Vol. 1, Longbridge Books, 2021.
Canton, Licia, ed. Here & Now: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing. Vol. 2, Longbridge Books, 2024.
For Nonna Anna. Directed by Luis De Filippis, Fra Diavolo Films, 2017.
Sdao, Heather, and Luis De Filippis. “Queer Italian-Canadian Artists: Luis De Filippis.” Toronto, Ontario, 7 Aug. 2022. Zoom interview.
Something You Said Last Night. Directed by Luis De Filippis, Elevation Pictures, 2022.
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