On the occasion of Black History Month in the US, the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco will present a series of feature films and shorts celebrating Italian diversity and Italians of African descent.
National African American History Month, also known as Black History Month, was conceived by notable historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans to commemorate and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the United States. Since its 1926 inception, Black History Month has become a celebration of “African Diaspora,” and since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February to celebrate it.
BLACK ITALIAN FILM SHOWCASE, created by Do The Right Films and curated by producer-director Fred Kudjo Kuwornu, is the first celebration of Afro-Italian talent in film, showcasing new features and shorts while illuminating the historical, social, and cultural aspects of Black life in Italy, offering the opportunity to see a diverse representation of the country.
BLAXPLOITALIAN
100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema
Dir: Fred Kudjo Kuwornu
Documentary, Italy, 2016, 61 min
English and Italian with English subtitles
January 31, 2023 | 6:30 pm
@INNOVIT, 710 Sansome St, San Francisco
The film screening is free and open to the public. Registration required.
EVENT FULLY BOOKED
The festival will open with Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema, a documentary that uncovers the careers of a population of entertainers never heard from before. With modern day interviews and archival footage, the documentary discloses the personal struggles and triumphs that Afro-Italian, African-American and Afro-descendant actors faced in the Italian film industry, while mirroring their struggles with those of contemporary actors who are working diligently to find respectable, significant, and non-stereotypical roles, but are often unable to do so.
BlaxploItalian is more than an unveiling of a troubled history; it is a call-to-action for increased diversity in international cinema through the stories of these artists in an effort to reflect the modern and racially diverse Italy.
Director Fred Kudjo Kuwornu will attend the screening and present the film.
ABOUT
Fred Kudjo Kuwornu (born 6 September 1971), is an Italian-Ghanaian-US citizen, filmmaker, producer, educator and international D.E.I. consultant based in New York. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed documentaries such as Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema, Inside Buffalo and 18 Ius Soli (The Right of Being Italian). His documentaries deal with political and social themes, such as racism, interracial relations, diversity, Afro-Italians and Black diasporic identity in Italy and the African diaspora in the world. He is the first Italian of African descent to become a director and to open a film production company.