The Moor: A Story of Alessandro de’Medici
Film screening and talk with Daphne Di Cinto
Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm CT
Newberry Library, Ruggles Hall
60 W Walton St, Chicago IL
Register
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and Newberry Library present a screening of Daphne Di Cinto’s award-winning short film, “Il Moro/The Moor,” which tells the story of Alessandro de’ Medici, the illegitimate son of a servant of Moorish descent and Pope Clement VII. When his father entrusts him with command of Florence, Alessandro is forced to question his identity and his place within the political dynasty known as the House of Medici.
After the screening, the Newberry’s Lia Markey and Yasmine Hachimi will moderate a Q&A with Di Cinto, who wrote, directed, and produced the film, which is currently longlisted for Oscars 2024.
Daphne Di Cinto is a Black Italian screenwriter, director, actor, and producer. She began her film and theater studies in Rome, where she focused on acting at Scuola di Cinema, while earning a degree in Communication Science from Roma Tre University. She attended the faculty of cinema at Sorbonne University in Paris before moving to New York for her master’s in fine arts at the Actors Studio Drama School. Currently based in London, Daphne is writer, director, and producer of the award-winning short film Il Moro/The Moor, her directorial debut. As an actor, she played the Duchess of Hastings in the Netflix series Bridgerton.
Lia Markey, Director of the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library, is a scholar of Medici Florence who also teaches at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Her publications include a monograph, Imagining the Americas in Medici Florence, and several edited volumes and articles. She is co-curator of the Newberry exhibition, Seeing Race Before Race and co-edited with Noémie Ndiaye the related publication of the same name.
Yasmine Hachimi is Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library. Her book project, Tudorotica, traces the eroticization of Tudor queens across centuries and genres, from 16th-century letters and plays to tv shows and fanfiction today. Her interests include how popular media and images of the premodern period challenge or affirm public understandings of the past, particularly with regard to sexuality and race. She has shared her work and expertise in several venues, including public-facing talks and publications, podcasts, and social media outlets. Yasmine is co-curator with Lia Markey, Rebecca Fall, Christopher Fletcher, and Noemie Ndiaye of the Newberry’s “Seeing Race Before Race” exhibition.
This program is part of Chi Siamo: (Re)presenting Italian Culture, the theme selected for 2023 by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. This year-long series will explore the topics of representation and inclusion in Italian arts, with a specific focus on cross-cultural contamination in contemporary and modern Italy.