Fireworks

In 1982, all of Italy is eagerly awaiting the Football World Cup. Sixteen-year-old Nino has just finished school and enjoys his freedom swimming and riding his new moped. Gianni, on the other hand, has suffered from his neighbours’ insults and hostility since rumours about his sexual orientation started to circulate. The two of them get to know each other in a traffic accident. They quickly become friends. Nino helps Gianni get a job with his uncle, and soon Gianni is a welcome guest in Nino’s family. Eventually they both realise that it is more than friendship that connects them. But the community does not think highly of such a relationship. Gianni is beaten up in the middle of the street, and Nino is pressured by his family to stop seeing Gianni. However, the love of the young men is stronger than all obstacles. Together they defy discrimination and social conventions, with a fatal outcome. The film is inspired by the double murder of a gay couple in Sicily in 1980 and dedicated to Toni and Giorgio, the two victims.