Let's Kiss (History of a gentle revolution)

I’ve known Franco Grillini for more than 40 years, ever since, in our early 20s, we shared the same passion and same political commitment in a small left-wing organization. A few years
later I found him among the national founders of Arcigay (the Italian Gay Association), a branch of the same association I was in, ARCI (the Italian Recreational and Cultural Association). I was working in cinema, and like many back then – the preconception was firmly rooted everywhere – I wondered, “What? I can’t believe it!”
Down through the years we traveled parallel paths, always following each other from a distance, with great mutual esteem and interest: he with his battles for freedom, and I with my odd work as a “journalist-director”. Franco is a very cultured person, a formidable speaker endowed with real charisma. He knows how to use irony and provocation, and has a formidable memory, but most of all he believes in what he’s doing.The pretext for the film came about just before Christmas 2018, when the City of Bologna awarded him the “Nettuno d’Oro”, the maximum recognition for one of its citizens. It was as if I were hit by a stroke of lightning; for quite some time I had been looking for a story, a life that was worth telling about, one that was emblematic and impressive on both the social and personal levels.
Like when I did the film on Pietro Ingrao, “Non mi avete convinto”, a story that would also speak of me, through a person to be loved and with whom to filmically construct that poetic closeness without which you feel no need or desire for the project.I dropped him a note, saying:
“Dear Franco, Here I am again, this time not to be surprised,
but to feel proud of your story, because it is also somewhat mine and that of our generation. After so many years, we can say that many of our ideas were defeated. The world has changed, and not in the direction we would have wanted. But the world has not changed us, who have remained the same as back then, always with our heads held high and with the same sacrosanct hopes
and illusions. This, after all, is the greatest victory. I would like to tell about your life in my own way, in the way that you, who know me, know well: the story by images, in short, cinema”.
His answer was immediate: “Let’s get together right away. I really like the idea, but let’s hurry; I don’t have much time left.” Franco is very frank.We got together, started off without any rules, and closed ourselves indoors for several days. I was accompanied by my wife Donata, myfavorite screenwriter and irreplaceable compass during emotional storms.
Franco the tireless talker, his anecdotes are endless. Photographer, a personal and historic archive that can’t go to waste. I wrote the screenplay. He will be the sole actor, simply playing himself. There won’t be any other voices, just his, so captivating with the melodious Bolognese inflection that makes it sound musical.
There is still a lot to do. He knows it, but has no longer told me to hurry.