Nòstos

This is the story of my homecoming. A forced confrontation with the ghosts and the fears of my past, with those places I've never fully understood. A mosaic of memories, dreams, thoughts and loved ones transformed by the magic of imagination.

I grow up in a small village in the north of Italy. A place where time seemed to stand still.

My family worked the land and ran low-paid jobs while my few friends spent their time playing video games at the central bar. That was the best fun they could have hoped for.

I used to call my place “nowhereland”. An unknown place unworthy of any interest. Even dreaming big, confined to the local cinema, couldn't fill the emptiness.

I left home when I was 18, leaving everything – and everyone - behind.

But the pandemic changed my plans, forcing me to go back to my village after so many years.

Maybe it was time to deal with the past.

I decided to spend my free time wandering the countryside, the alleys, the old farms and the waterways, exploring faces and places I couldn’t remember anymore.

Searching for my roots, for the first time in my whole life.

But is there still a place for us, once we return?

I told myself: "Find a way to make peace with the past and with your fears. Discover the beauty you couldn’t see when you were younger and angry and blind. Draw on that wealth of dreams, suggestions and sleepless emotions".

So, these are the memories of those who flee far away - the ones I tried to forget for a very long time.

I am now aware that somewhere there was beauty and there was life, and I was there.

I was just too young and stubborn to be able to see them.