18 Ius soli, il diritto di essere italiani - This 2010, multi-awarded, first Italian grass-roots documentary, written and directed by Fred Kuwornu, addresses the issue of the right of citizenship for the so-called second-generation immigrants, or for those born or raised in Italy by immigrant parents. The documentary sheds light on a reality unknown to many and which sometimes also reaches the paradoxical. In fact, it is the reality of hundreds of thousands of young people who were born and raised in Italy but who are forced to live with a residence permit and who are not guaranteed those rights that their Italian friends and peers enjoy. Not having citizenship in a state of law like Italy means to be denied many possibilities and to feel different from the people around you and with whom you grew up.
Author and director Fred Kuwornu was born in Bologna in 1971 from a Ghanaian father and a Bolognese mother. In 2008 he worked as a set assistant for Spike Lee in the film Miracle.
The following year Kuwornu produced and directed Inside Buffalo, the first documentary on the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, for which he received the appreciation of Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama (both appear in clips in the documentary), the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and of the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano.
Presented by Bernadette Luciano of Italian Department, University of Auckland. Friday 22 March, 6.30pm, Room 315, Building 206, Arts 1 Humanities In Italian with English subtitles. Free entry.
