Nevia

Nevia is 17 years old. Too old for the place where she lives and grew up too fast before she could even be a child. Tiny and bitter, she is a headstrong adolescent. She and her younger sister, Enza, were raised by their grandmother, Nanà, and their Aunt Lucia in a trailer park in Ponticelli. Nevia seeks respect in a world where being born a woman offers no opportunities, in fact, it’s the exact opposite. She is well aware of this so she hides the femininity that weighs heavily on her behind drab clothing and by being defiant. Her days are always the same, spent doing odd jobs, big responsibilities, having arguments with her grandmother, and her love for her sister.
Then one day, a circus comes to town and upends her everyday life offering her an unexpected opportunity…

If adolescence is the pivotal moment for developing the identity and personality of an individual, it is also the most controversial, and the memories from my youth are of the ten years I spent in a trailer on the outskirts of Naples when the earthquake in the ‘80s forced my family to evacuate to a makeshift shelter camp while waiting for adequate housing. Days turned into months and months into years, and we never received public housing so we learned how to adapt to the tragic situation by reconciling with the daily life that was lost to us and getting used to living with the little we had with dignity. In the meantime, generations have come and gone, but the pre-fab buildings are still there. They have turned into a small Z-rated real estate market that often offers shelter to refugees from other misfortunate lives.

However, I think that using my personal story would have narrowed the value of this journey. Nevia’s story is about coming of age. It talks about the ups and downs and the many obstacles that stand between a young, 17-year-old adolescent girl and her victory of freedom and mature self-awareness. The setting represents a backdrop to a story that I hope captures a more universal meaning. Nevis is a girl who, like many of her peers, has to fight against a fate that seems pre-destined by her family and society. She is a modern day Cinderella, minus Prince Charming, who seeks her place in the world with stubbornness and resoluteness.