One day when I came home from primary school my mum overheard me mispronouncing my surname to a classmate. She pulled me aside. “Gianna, why are you saying your name like that?” Sheepish, I told her that nobody at school could say Mazzeo properly. She rolled her eyes and asked, “Well can they say pizza?” I nodded, confused. “If they can say pizza, they can say Mazzeo.” She was right. “Tomorrow, I want you to go to school and tell your friends that the double ‘z’ is pronounced like pizza.” My mum was a genius. I accepted the challenge. The next day, I went to school and did just as she advised. Shortly after, everyone started calling me Gianna Pizza.
Gianna is an Italian-Australian director based in Amsterdam. She loves to create bold and unique visual storytelling, drawing on experiences from her culture, queerness and the female condition. She loves to play with design, styling and aesthetics to bring to life distinctive worlds that convey an intended message.
