Bucknell to Host Three-day Event Celebrating ‘Afrodescendant Women Artists in Italy and Beyond National Borders’

Bucknell University will host a three-day event celebrating Afrodescendant women artists from Italy and beyond Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 24-26. The Right to Be (Seen): Afrodescendant Women Artists in Italy and Beyond National Borders will feature directors, filmmakers, actresses, writers and scholars, including Daphne Di Cinto, who appeared in the acclaimed Netflix drama Bridgerton; and Ira Fronten, who starred in Ridley Scott's film House of Gucci.

The event will explore race, gender and identity in cinema and art through film screenings, a symposium, a forum and a jazz/blues concert. Professor Anna Paparcone, Italian studies, National Endowment for the Humanities Chair in the Humanities (2022-2025), gathered the funding and led the massive organization effort to bring the first-of-its-kind event to Bucknell and Lewisburg with the assistance of Pamela Glass, academic assistant of the Department of Languages Cultures and Linguistics and the Program of Comparative and Digital Humanities.

"What I want to do is make sure these women feel heard and are given a platform to be more visible and recognized," Paparcone says. "We'll discuss topics such as multiethnic identity, race and gender in American and Italian cinema and TV, migration and what it means to be at home in a global world."

Thursday Highlights
The event will begin on Thursday, Oct. 24, with a series of film screenings featuring the works of Afrodescendant women directors and actresses, followed by a Q&A with artists. Screenings will take place from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Campus Theatre in downtown Lewisburg. Following the screenings, attendees will have the chance to engage with the filmmakers during a Q&A session.

Daphne Di Cinto

Ira Fronten

Among the featured filmmakers and actresses are Di Cinto, Fronten, Nadia Ali, Nadia Kibout, Laila Petrone, Iris Peynado and Medhin Paolos, along with writers Marilena Uhumoza Delli and Geneviève Makaping, all of whom have faced discrimination and still struggle to overcome race and gender issues and achieve success
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There will also be live theatrical performances starting at 4 p.m., with Fronten performing the monologue Wildfire in collaboration with Bucknell student Kaylin Reynolds '27, English — creative writing, and Kibout performing the monologue Lampedusa Beach.

"I am involving students throughout the event so that they can establish a deeper connection with the artists' stories, fostering a unique understanding of (Italian) multi-ethnic identity as well as race and gender issues in Italian and American society, cinema and television," Paparcone says.

Friday Symposium and Forum
On Friday, Oct. 25, the event will continue on campus with a symposium starting at 8 a.m. in the Humanities Center at Hildreth-Mirza Hall. Participants will discuss how race, gender and multiethnic identity are portrayed in cinema and media, with a focus on postcolonial and transnational perspectives. The symposium will feature scholars and students from Bucknell alongside participants from the U.S. and Europe.

A public forum will follow from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Leanne Freas Trout Auditorium, moderated by Paparcone and Professor Jaye Austin Williams, critical Black studies chair. The forum will delve into the (in)visibility of Black women in cinema, both in the U.S. and Italy.

"Among other things, we'll explore whether stereotypes persist in their portrayals and how those stereotypes are represented today," says Paparcone.

Saturday Concert and Cultural Celebration
The event will conclude on Saturday, Oct. 26, with a jazz and blues concert by Karen Meeks and the Blue River Soul Band at 8:30 p.m. in the Campus Theatre. Titled "The Divas Sung by Karen Meeks," the concert will pay tribute to five legendary Black women in American music: Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. The concert will honor the contributions of Black women to the arts and celebrate their enduring legacy.

The event is funded through Paparcone's National Endowment for the Humanities grant, the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia, the American Association Teachers of Italy, The Lewisburg Community Zone, and several Bucknell administrative offices and departments.

The film screenings, the symposium and the forum are free and open to the public. The concert is open to the community. Tickets are $5 and available for purchase on the event website. Registration is recommended for all of the events.