A crucial step for the inclusion of people with disabilities and their media representation. This is what is happening thanks to Queerky, a young Milanese talent agency where talent and inclusion towards all differences are the two pillars of a new language for the entertainment world. The goal is to disseminate an inclusive presence from advertising to cinema, from fashion to the web. The name Queerky comes from the fusion between quirky (strange, in English) and queer: the eccentric, the queerky, is the new normal.
Which has also recently landed at the Venice Film Festival thanks to the docufilm La timidezza delle chiome by Valentina Bertani. Protagonists Benjamin and Joshua Israel, twins of Jewish origin, in their first film experience, united by an intellectual disability and a natural charisma. Their mother, Monica Carletti Israel says: «Having understood that everyone has the right to be recognized for who they are without having to violate their own nature to be accepted gives this agency an ethical, as well as artistic, value».
«It’s time to embrace change, transforming what many perceive as a mistake into the opportunity for a new vision, representative of everyone without distinction – explain the founders of Queerky, Emma Elena Ferrarotti and Giorgia Merzagora -. We are still used to creating a clear boundary between “normality” and what is unknown to us, labeling it as “different”». Always involved in artistic scouting, Ferrarotti and Merzagora have decided to create this reality starting from a gap between supply and demand. The role of the person with a disability is rarely played by an actor with a disability, eliminating the existence of professionalism in this sector. And another obstacle in the performing arts is represented by the spread of architectural barriers of all kinds. A talent agency open to all nuances of the person helps generate the necessary change. The goal is to propose the right person at the right time, for innovative content and means of communication. The key to success is not only to bring together supply and demand, but to create the right synergies for this to happen.
In fact, the agency is a hotbed of new talent leading to work in the media, where people with disabilities are still poorly or misrepresented (compassionate or heroic). Many talents have already chosen to be part of it. “The diversification of bodies in different media contexts helps to break down the stereotypes, the prototypes of beauty, which isolate anyone who deviates from the pre-established standards – says for example Maximiliano Ulivieri, journalist and activist engaged in the fight against inequalities of people with disabilities, who appeared in the 2022 Paralympics launch spot — Queerky has caught on to this shortcoming and started gathering talent without boundaries. In this context I feel represented and valued in my diversity. Cinema has great cultural power: it must make the most of it».
“Unfortunately, faced with a reality like Queerky, we still talk about the ‘courage’ of media representation – says the deaf actress Alessia Moro – Especially in a city like Milan, where appearance is one of the driving characteristics”.