'Two of Us', at the Milano Film Fest the short about the story of two women with breast cancer

Stories of women dealing with cancer. The short film 'Due di noi' was presented at the Cinema Anteo in Milan, a docufilm out of competition at the Milano Film Fest with actor Claudio Santamaria as artistic director, running until June 8. Promoted by Gilead Sciences Italia with the association Europa Donna Italia and produced by Tapelessfilm, the short film features two women - Chiara and Teresa - after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer with their projects, their expectations for the future, the different meanings that time takes on. The two women, aged 50 and 38, are geographically distant (Chiara lives in Venice, Teresa in Salerno), but parallel and deeply intertwined in their humanity. Both live with metastatic breast cancer, a diagnosis that, in 2022 alone, affected over 52,000 women and that often tears away every certainty, every project. But today, thanks to therapeutic progress, it is increasingly evolving into the dimension of chronicity.

"I am a person with an illness, I am not a sick person - Chiara says in the film - and therefore I experience the illness as a small part of my life that I treat". Telling these two stories without the illness becoming the absolute protagonist was the challenge of the docufilm directed by Mattia Colombo and Davide Fois. Nine months of life expectancy: this is the prognosis I received in 2020 when the illness returned" recalls Chiara Ruaro, protagonist of Due di Noi. "Since then 5 years have passed, a degree, a career and many passions. Life puts you in front of very steep climbs, it is up to us to decide how to face them. My story - which is also made up of fears and moments of despair, especially when I wait for the results of the tests - and which I was lucky enough to tell in such an amplified way, I hope will be of help to the women who find themselves facing this path. It cannot and must not be minimized, but it can and must be taken and filled with life, because the present must be lived fully and the future and science can change our path".

"It's called cancer, we can't avoid calling it by its name" says Teresa Giordano, the other protagonist of Due di noi. "What I tell myself when I feel like I'm collapsing is to have courage. I tell myself: fall, sink, go through this pain and try to transform it. Even at 30, even when life seems so difficult, time can be wonderful; in the last 7 years I've done things that I wouldn't have done before. I have so many projects to realize in the next few years that a book wouldn't be enough to contain them all; the closest is my marriage, to a partner who chose me the day of my first diagnosis and has never abandoned me".

"Chiara and Teresa's stories are a precious testimony", says Alessandra Gennari, professor of medical oncology at the University of Eastern Piedmont, Coordinator of the Faculty on breast cancer at ESMO (European Society of Oncology), director of the Oncology Clinic at the University Hospital of Novara. Two stories that "indirectly tell how therapies can have a significant impact on patients who receive a diagnosis of disease progression. Research is constantly evolving and today metastatic breast cancer, both in the most aggressive and the most widespread forms, can count on more effective therapies that can give more time with a better quality of life. For us clinicians, seeing such a difficult path faced with tenacity and desire for the future is a great achievement; spreading this message with the voice of patients is fundamental".

Chiara and Teresa's journey could not be the same without the support of a network of women who support and help each other on a daily basis. Patient associations represent a safe haven, where you can find comfort, welcome and help. The docufilm 'Due di Noi' was created thanks to the collaboration of Europa Donna Italia, which has always been committed to patients alongside the scientific community and institutions. "We have been paying special attention to patients with metastatic breast cancer since 2012, when we promoted the first survey dedicated to highlighting their needs", says Rosanna D'Antona, president of Europa Donna Italia.

"At that time, metastatic cancer was a taboo; today it is much less so, thanks also to the progress of research that has allowed us to give a new dimension to the advanced stage of the disease. A stage that brings with it specific needs, linked not only to life expectancy, but also to the particular physical and psychological condition of the woman, who finds herself facing very different scenarios compared to those who live with localized disease. Over time, we have never stopped listening to patients, and from this listening, five requests in particular emerged that summarize their needs: we have included them in the Manifesto of Metastatic Breast Cancer and we have committed ourselves to bringing it to the institutional tables, starting an advocacy action that asks the institutions for rapid and timely responses".

'Due di Noi' is part of the commitment that Gilead Italia, present in the area of ​​solid oncology, has been strengthening for four years. "We are proud to have succeeded in a short, precious time, to contribute to improving the lives of people facing a metastatic oncological disease, thanks to therapies that increase life expectancy, ensuring that it can be lived with quality", says Carmen Piccolo, medical director of Gilead Sciences Italia. "Our commitment is constant not only to find increasingly innovative and effective therapies - consider that to date there are 30 active studies for 20 new potential indications for breast cancer and other types of solid tumors by 2030 - but also to ensure that access to these therapies occurs as quickly as possible. For this reason, collaboration with the scientific community, institutions and patient associations remains essential".

"The possibility of communicating the experience of illness in increasingly broader contexts is a reality today and this allows us to overcome the barriers and stigma that every person with an experience of illness brings with them" says Gemma Saccomanni, Senior Director Public Affairs of Gilead Sciences Italia. "Being included, with Due di Noi, in the programming of the first edition of the Milano Film Fest is the confirmation of a change of pace and of a sensitivity that in this sense we are helping to consolidate and we are happy that our project has been welcomed by the artistic direction of the event. Gilead will continue to listen to the voices of patients and amplify them in contexts where the sounding board can be strong and reach an increasingly wider audience".

"Over the years, not only Italian but also international filmography has produced films of great resonance that tell the theme of illness. Cinema is a powerful channel to move sensibilities and consciences," says Claudio Santamaria, Artistic Director of the Milano Film Fest. "At our baptism we could only welcome 'Due di Noi' with enthusiasm, reserving a space for such a strong message as the one told by the stories of Chiara and Teresa. A message of hope, but above all of life."