By: Nadia Bedini
Second-generation Italians often sit between two worlds. They were born and raised in Italy. They speak the language perfectly and grew up in Italian neighborhoods. Yet many still get treated like outsiders in their own country. Strict citizenship rules and outdated ideas about what an Italian should look like leave many of them feeling unwelcome. Every day, racism and rough police stops have become part of life for too many.
Short films have become one of the few places where this reality shows up without any sugarcoating. The short format works well here. There is no time for long speeches or fancy production. Directors just show the everyday moments. You see the park hangouts, the sudden police checks, and the casual insults that build up over years. These films do not lecture.
Nadia Beddini’s La Mia Milano from 2022 captures exactly that feeling. The short follows a close group of second-generation Italians in Milan. They deal with racism and police brutality right in the streets where they grew up. Beddini pulls from her own memories of teenage life in the city. She keeps the story grounded and honest without turning it into a big statement piece.
Her earlier short Black Italians from 2017 takes a similar path. It lets second-generation voices talk straight about police stops, racism, and the daily struggles of growing up Black or mixed in Italy. Other shorts have followed the same honest road. For example, student films shown at the 2024 Venice Film Festival told the story of Willy Monteiro Duarte. That young man of Cape Verdean descent was killed in a racially charged attack. These pieces keep bringing the issue back into view even years later.
What makes these shorts powerful is how personal they feel. Most are made on small budgets with tiny crews. That keeps the focus on real faces and real neighborhoods instead of Hollywood drama. These films cannot fix the problem by themselves. They will not change laws or stop biased policing overnight. But they do make the issue harder to ignore.
For second-generation Italians, dealing with stuff like racism or police brutality isn’t some abstract debate. It’s just their life. We’re talking about kids in Milan parks or families in Rome neighborhoods. These are just young people across the country trying to exist within the only home they have ever known. They show a side of Italy you’d never find in a glossy travel guide.
