Twisted

Giada is an insecure 13 years old girl living in the countryside, dealing with the typical horrors of her age: pimples sprouting out on her face, dental braces, trying not to seem the uncoolest of her school. There are two boys she can call friends: they like to show off the swear words they know and get up to mischief. Giada's life changes when she is unexpectedly diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Her doctor prescribes a bulky plastic brace, which must be worn for 16 hours a day. Moreover, the orthopedic technician who has to take her brace cast turns out to be slimy and he messes around her breast more than necessary. Giada desperately tries to keep the brace hidden from the rest of the world. She also invents excuses not to leave the house, spiraling in overly sad, almost hallucinatory thoughts. But despite her best efforts, she can't keep the embarrassing secret hidden from her friends forever. Yet their reaction will change her perception of her body and their friendship forever.

Director’s statement
When I was in the sixth grade, the pediatrician told me: your back is twisting. A couple of months later I went back to him for a checkup. The body at that age grows precipitously: I was already 10 centimeters taller and my spine was following his own path, heedless of the norm. Mine was an "italic shaped scoliosis", so called since it imitated the curves of the Italian peninsula. I would have needed a Lyonnais corset. That was just yet another mess caused by my body. Everything in me was increasing: my size, my stink, and my shyness. I felt a sense of injustice for that plastic armor. Why me of all people?Now it seems such an easy thing to be able to respond to aesthetic criticism in a firm way and claim my diversity. At the time, I would have liked to find more stories of nonconforming teenagers who dealt with feeling "uncool". That's why "Twisted" exists: it's rooted in a lived experience, because I believe that a story is the more truthful, the more we know every dark corner of it.