Nicola Mai

Nicola Mai is a filmmaker, ethnographer and sociologist. His films focus on the experiences and representations of migrants working in the sex industry. They aim to bring their complex decisions, priorities, and trajectories at the centre of public debates increasingly framing them as either victims or perpetrators of trafficking thereby ignoring their complex realities and needs. Inspired by Jean Rouch's ethnofictions, Nicola Mai developed a participatory, creative and collaborative filmmaking methodology transcending the distinction between fiction and non-fiction, participation and observation, knowledge and emotions. By combining collaborative fictional methodologies and mainstream observational filmmaking his films involve marginalized migrant groups and individuals in the self-representations of their complex experiences of self-realization and exploitation in the sex industry. Nick's current film projects adopt the same collaborative and co-creative approach to explore the relationship between climate change the transition to green societies and the displacements and social responses that are emerging in the process. Nick's films are available on demand on Vimeo