widthOn a hot day in July 1510, in the hall of an aristocratic palace in Florence, a servant gave birth to a boy. No one would have thought that this boy would become the heir of the Duke of Florence and the Medici family. The most powerful Renaissance. Not to mention that the boy is black.
Five hundred years later, the African-Italian actor, writer and director Daphne Di Cinto who appeared in Netflix TV series (Daphne Di Cinto) Bridgetown As the young mother of the Duke of Hastings, she is seeking to bring his story back to life, and has released a trailer for her debut short film “Il Moro”, which is set in the Italian Renaissance period. A period drama set in the life of Alessandro de’ Medici. The first black head of state in modern Western Europe.
“I stumbled upon his story while I was doing research for another project at the time,” Di Cinto said. “To be honest, I found him in an article titled “Ten People You Didn’t Know Are Black in History”. I was stunned. I never knew his background, and people didn’t seem to be familiar with it. I strongly believe that his story deserves attention, just as other Africans are worthy of being represented in our history.
“I find it very interesting. After fictionalizing the most famous black duke around, I will somehow take care of another black duke by telling his story.”
The film tells the dispute between the last male chief of the main lineage of the powerful Medici family. Di Cinto stated that its goal is to highlight a broad range of black ancestry and restore a positive and inspiring view of black identity.
Alessandro, nicknamed il Moro (Moorish) is recognized as the illegitimate son of Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici, he is the most famous art in history One of the patrons, grandson of the great Lorenzo (Lorenzo the Magnificent), he is the symbol of the Florentine banking family Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Machia Artists and thinkers such as Villi and Galileo. Scholars also proposed another dynasty, Giulio de Medici, who later became Pope Clement VII, who was the biological father of Alessandro.
“Alessandro’s mother was enslaved. According to the law at the time, you inherited your mother’s disease,” said Di Cinto. Her mother is Seychellois and her father is a white Italian.
“His life began to climb upwards. People don’t think about him too much, which is surprisingly similar to the experience of Africans today. Today, it has to do with skin color, and at the time it was about his “low birth”-it It still has the same name: Discrimination. In some ways, I saw myself in his story. When I grow up, it is normal to have to prove that I am Italian. You will hear similar stories of my African-Italian, among them Many people are not even granted citizenship, even though they were born and raised Italy. “
The story of Alessandro is also a story of resilience: despite being insulted and disadvantaged as the “son of a black servant” from birth, in 1530, Charles V and Pope Clement VII After reaching an agreement, he was crowned Duke of Florence and reigned for six years. He was assassinated in a conspiracy orchestrated by his cousin Lorenzino de Medici, who lured him on the night of January 1537 Go to his residence and murder him with the help of his accomplices.
After his death, he became a victim of a common practice called “condemning memory” at the time, in which members of the nobility or artists were deliberately vilified by scholars who usually served the rulers in order to erase them from history.Two of his paintings are kept in the Uffizi Gallery, by George Vasari Agnolo Bronzino, And some books, academic research and documents.
“Alessandro was refused proper burial,” Dicinto said. “His body was placed in the tomb of Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici, in the Neo Sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, without Visible name or inscription. This is another purpose of this movie: to restore him and remember him.”
This 20-minute short film is currently on tour at the Film Festival, featuring Alberto Boubacar Marancino as Alessandro de Medici and Paulo Sazanelli as Pope Clemente , Barkissa Megar plays Alessandro’s mother, Andre Melis plays Ippolito de Medici.The clip will be partly Ongoing crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, There have been discussions about developing the story into a feature film or series.
“I hope this film can represent the battle to restore and inspire a positive view of black identity, not only on the screen, but also on the set,” DiCinto said. “It is important for me that my scene reflects the society I want to see: my staff includes black women, Afro-Italian and LGBTQ+ community members. The story of Alessandro is more than just a black person. The story is the history of everyone, and I hope my audience can resonate with it like me.”
