FILMMAKER ATTENDING
Moderator: Danila Cannamela is a native of Italy and currently an Assistant Professor of Italian and Coordinator of the Italian Program at University of Saint Thomas (MN). She is currently working on a book manuscript, entitled The Quiet Avant-Garde: Crepuscularism and the Twilight of Modern Humanism.
Followed by a Q&A with director Fred Kudju Kuwornu.
BlaxploItalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema is a riveting documentary that goes behind the scenes to reveal the stories of one of the most unheralded performers in Italian cinema history: black actors. Cleverly disclosing the personal struggles classic Afro-Italian and African diasporic actors have had to face in an already challenging career, BlaxploItalian also examines the plight of contemporary actors working diligently to find respectable and significant roles. More than an unveiling of a cinematic secret, this thought-provoking documentary is also a call-to-action for increased diversity and esteem in international cinema.
A journey spanning over a century, BlaxploItalian begins with the un-credited Black actor who appeared in the 1913 film Zuma the Gypsy, by Baldassarre Negroni, and moves through the Golden Age of Italian cinema, concluding in the present day.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Fred Kudjo Kurwornu is an activist-producer-writer-director, born and raised in Italy and based today in Brooklyn. He is the producer and director of the award-winning documentary Inside Buffalo, and the documentary 18 IUS SOLI, about multiculturalism in Italy and the citizenship questions of the children of immigrants. In addition, he is the founder of the Association Diversity Italia, and the forthcoming documentary Afropoliti@n.
SPONSORED BY
ALSO SPONSORED BY
ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL
The Italian Cultural Center's film festival returns in 2016 with ten acclaimed Italian movies never before seen in Minnesota. From Thursday, February 18 through Sunday, February 21, IFF features a mix of documentaries, dramas, and comedies that take viewers on a spectacular journey through the landscapes and stories of Italy and its people.