Blaxploitalian. 100 Years of Black in Italian Cinema (59ā) (2016) is a diasporic, hybrid, and critical documentary that uncovers
the careers of a population of entertainers seldom heard from before: African-American and African descent actors in
Italian cinema. Blaxploitalian cleverly discloses the personal struggles classic Afro-Italian and African diasporic actors faced,
correlating it with the contemporary actors who work diligently to find respectable and significant roles. Itās not only a film
talk about black actors; but a critical analysis about diversity and typecasting in all the international media industry.
Fred āKudjoā Kuwornu, an activist-producer-writer-director, was born and
raised in Italy and based in Brooklyn. His mother is an Italian Jew, and his
father a Ghanaian surgeon who lived in Italy since the early 60ās. After
his experience, working with the production crew of Spike Leeās Miracle
at St. Anna (in 2007 as on location Set P.A.) Fred decided to research the
unknown story of the 92nd Infantry āBuffalo Soldiersā Division, which fought
in Europe during WWII. Fred thus produced and directed the Awardwinning
documentary Inside Buffalo (āBest Documentaryā at the Black
Berlin International Cinema Festival). In 2012, he released 18 IUS SOLI which
examines multiculturalism in Italy, but also specifically looks at questions of
citizenship for the one million children of immigrants born and raised in Italy
but are not yet Italian citizens.