Cal Poly to Screen Italian-Ghanaian Filmmaker’s Documentary March 7

If you have trouble seeing this video, please watch the trailer on YouTube.
Please note: this video is in Italian.

Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker, producer and activist Fred Kuwornu will visit Cal Poly for a screening of his documentary “18 IUS SOLI” from 4:10 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 7, in the Baker Center for Science and Mathematics (Building 180), Room 101. A conversation with the filmmaker will follow the screening.

The documentary tracks the lives of 18 young men and women who were born and raised in Italy but whose parents originate from African, Asian and Latin American countries. The film explores what it means to be children of immigrants in Italy.

Issues of identity and isolation develop as these young people attend school in Italy and speak the national language — yet are not considered citizens. As children of immigrants, they are required to undergo a lengthy citizenship process that does not guarantee a positive outcome.

The documentary showcases how citizenship issues and limited access to higher education are worldwide problems.

Kuwornu has collaborated with several film production crews, including the crew that worked on Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna.” Working with Lee inspired Kuwornu to direct and produce “Inside Buffalo,” a documentary on the 92nd Infantry “Buffalo Soldiers” Division, an African American segregated combat unit that fought in Italy during World War II. The film won Best Documentary at the Black Berlin International Cinema Festival and has been screened at the Pentagon and the Library of Congress.

Among Kuwornu’s planned projects are “We the Italians,” which focuses on several Italian scientists, and a film about the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, titled “64.”

In addition to film projects, Kuwornu is the founder of Diversity Italia, a nonprofit organization that promotes ethnic and racial diversity in Italy by using film and other artistic mediums as tools for building a more inclusive society.

The event is presented by Cal Poly’s Ethnic Studies Department with support provided by the California State University Entertainment Industry Initiative and the Modern Languages and Literatures Department.

The screening is free and open to the public.