On January 31st, the Black Italy Festival kicked off in the Bay Area, offering a range of movies and shorts that highlight and celebrate Italian diversity and Italians of African descent. The Festival is organized by the Italian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with other local organizations.
Black History Month was conceived by historian Woodson and other prominent African Americans to commemorate and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the United States. Since its inception in 1926, National African American History Month has become a celebration in February and people in the United States honor the achievements and history of African Americans as part of it.
The director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Annamaria di Giorgio, is very excited about this program: “The IIC SF is proud to have organized the first Black Italian Festival in the Bay area, partnering with Director and Producer Fred Kowornu and with other significant partners such as Berkeley University, MOAD (Museum of the African Diaspora), with the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco.”
She continues: “This initiative aims at being a further step towards increasing awareness and understanding of the contributions and experiences of Black Italians. I think we have reached a point: it’s about time – like Lizzo says – to highlight and celebrate the diverse voices and perspectives that make up Italian culture. This retrospective provides a unique platform to showcase the rich and diverse stories of black Italians and to promote cultural exchange and understanding. I hope that it will inspire more similar initiatives in the future, and increase the visibility of underrepresented communities in Italian culture.”
The festival opened in San Francisco with a documentary by Fred Kudjo Kuwornu, The Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema. Director Kuworn traveled from the Big Apple to present the sixty-minute documentary uncovering the careers of several entertainers. He discloses all struggles and triumphs that Afro-Italian, African-American, and Afro-descendant actors have faced in the Italian film industry while mirroring their labors with those of contemporary actors who are working to find respectable and non-stereotypical roles.
Fred Kudjo Kuwornu is a filmmaker and producer, as well as an educator and a diversity and inclusion consultant. His work deals with political and social themes, and it never holds back from raising awareness of racism, interracial relations, and diversity. As the first Italian of African descent to become a director and the owner of a film production company, he talked to us about his work and about the documentary he presented at Innovit in San Francisco.
Why is it important to have such a series of works to celebrate Black History Month?
Thanks to movies like these, we can tell stories in a new, different way. I got the idea of a series of this kind many years ago, however, there was not enough material coming from Italian African artists. When I moved to the US, I was surprised and happy to see how the contributions of artists of African descent are celebrated and honored. I did some work and finally gathered Italian names and titles that could be a good fit for this series.
How were these movies picked? And what’s the main topic of the series?
There’s not a topic, really. There wasn’t a broad selection of titles to choose from quite yet. But we wanted to give visibility to the artists that have already done some work. We picked documentaries focusing on the history of the Italian diaspora, as well as documentaries that talk about immigration and the journey of people who migrate to Italy. Some movies converge on people’s passion, like Autumn Beat.
What’s the most important message to come across for Italy, Italians, and Italian expats?
We had the opportunity to tell Italian stories outside of our country, and we knew well in advance that we would need to deal with the stereotypes and high expectations coming with it. We are meeting our goal of attracting an audience that includes Italians, Italian expats, and Italians of African descent. The value of this series, especially in the US, comes from an audience of people who love Italy and Italian cinema as well as all those who want to learn how African immigrants live in Italy.
Another important date for this series is February 11th, when the Roxie Theatre opens its door to Autumn Beat and its director. Co-presented by the Museum of the African Diaspora, this Amazon Studios and Indiana Productions work is the story, told by director Antonio Dikele Distefano, of Black culture in Italy and the importance of music as a means of redemption and identity. Tito and Paco are brothers whose passion for rap music tells the audience a story about their love for the same woman, which tests the siblings’ bond.
This is not Dikele Distefano’s first artistic effort. Born and raised in Ravenna, Emilia Romagna, his movie Zero debuted on Netflix in 2021 and brought attention to the life of Italian Black people. He began creating content for TV and social media, had books published between 2014 and 2019, as well as a magazine, Esse, considered now an outlet for young Black artists seeking recognition for their work and talent. Giving voice to this underserved community allows people to exist and to be seen.
Even if mainstream media choose to not tell their stories, they are no longer invisible.
In March, the series will move to Oakland and its New Parkway Theatre, which will welcome shorts from five different artists. Nadia Ali is an Italian director and producer of Egyptian descent, who moved to the US in 2011. With her short La Mia Milano she tells the story of a group of second-generation Italians dealing with racism and police brutality in the city of Milan.
Thirteen minutes is the time director Kassim Yassin Saleh needs to tell the story of a ten-year-old Somalian refugee in the movie Idris, which premiered at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival in the special section MigrArti. Idris, the main character, arrived in Italy on a boat along with other immigrants. He lost his parents and, when in Rome, he met other kids with whom he can play while waiting for his own destiny to unfold.
Amin Nour takes on the story of a young Somali man raised in Rome while he gets ready to meet his girlfriend’s parents. A journey in Mohamed’s life, right before the date takes place.
The Moor by Daphne Di Cinto is the story of Alessandro de’ Medici, legitimized into the de’ Medici family after being revealed as the son of an enslaved African woman and Pope Clement VII. Haunted by the stigma of his low birth and a mother he barely remembers, Alessandro must come to terms with his roots and is forced to face his father’s inability to accept him, while fending off his cousin’s power-hungry attacks.
Laila Petrone’s short is about a father and his daughter who connect with their Puerto Rican roots by reaching out to victims of a hurricane. Laila Petrone is an Italian-Dominican filmmaker, raised between Rome and Los Angeles. In 2007, she appeared as Pina in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna and she decided to pursue a career as a director. In the following years, Laila worked as an assistant director and producer.
The series comes to an end on March 18th at Berkeley Center for New Media, with a conference on Afrofuturism, Ancient Egypt and Black Visual Arts, with Claudia Attimonelli from the University of Bari Aldo Moro and Abu Qadim Haqq, an American visual artist who was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.
More info on times and venues can be found on the Italian Cultural Institute website https://iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it
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