The film is meant to be a tribute to Naughty Dog’s creative endeavor, and it’s made by a small group of friends by the name of HotGarbageTeam, which is a callback to one of the scenes of the game between Ellie and Dina. The director of the film is an Italian videomaker, Marco Ritelli, who reached out to the team after he saw some of their posts on Facebook. Game Rant spoke with Ritelli and HotGarbageTeam, which comprises Virginia Ceci as Ellie, Rita Grieco as Dina, Alessia Grassi as Abby, and Amelia Falco as Lev.

RELATED: The Last of Us: Every LGBT+ Character in the Franchise

How LGBTQ+ Representation and Relationships Between Characters Help Inclusivity

Portraying characters like those from The Last of Us Part 2 is no easy task, but it came naturally to the cosplayers because all of them related to their character to a certain extent. For Ceci and Grieco, especially, it was very important to have prominent characters in a video game series they love be great examples of LGBTQ+ representation, and that’s because finding that in a game can easily lead to players being more involved with the story.

The film didn’t shy away from depicting the relationship between Ellie and Dina, which is one of the narrative highlights in The Last of Us 2, even though the film wasn’t meant to be a way to spoil the story for those who haven’t played the game. Ceci and Grieco also decided not to share Ellie and Dina’s kisses out of respect for their partners, but this doesn’t mean that the relationship between the characters on screen will suffer in terms of credibility from this. Grieco explained that it was awkward between them at first, but then their friendship grew stronger, and this allowed her and Ceci to be more spontaneous on set. Grieco was also happy to find bisexual representation in The Last of Us Part 2, and that it was spontaneous to witness.

Falco interprets Lev in the short film, and she was not very confident of how she was going to succeed in the task. Playing the role of a character that’s so different from the actor is hard on its own, but with Lev being transgender, Falco felt like there was an extra layer of challenge there. Lev raised a few controversies from The Last of Us Part 2 players, partially because some didn’t think he appropriately portrayed the trans community, but he also cemented representation for it in a media that doesn’t feature enough of it.

Because striking a good balance between playing the character and fitting Lev’s role was not easy, Falco leaned on her relationship with Grassi.

Overall, the relationships between the characters and those who interpret them are key in the short film. The director and cast alike hope that it succeeds at showing how important it is to them and many players across the world to feel represented in video games. Now, that representation is coming in the form of a fan-made film, too, which The Last of Us fans shouldn’t miss once it comes out.

The Last of Us Part 2 fan film releases on September 26.

MORE: Joel’s Growth in The Last of Us Franchise Explained