Fred Kudjo Kuwornu is a multi-hyphenate artist and scholar whose work is deeply influenced by his background as a person of African and Jewish descent, born and raised in Italy and moved to the United States, with Italian, U.S. and Ghanaian passports. His artistic and scholarly practice revolves around exploring postcolonial, historical, and intersectional themes, including issues related to identity, Black Europe, the global African diaspora, and mobility. His roles as a filmmaker, activist, educator, producer, and film curator, allow him to engage with diverse communities and initiate conversations about pressing societal issues.
One of the key inspirations for Kuwornu's work is the famous essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" by the Indian-American scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. This essay delves into the challenges of representing and amplifying the voices of marginalized and oppressed groups from the Global South.
He holds a MA in Political Science from the University of Bologna and has received prestigious fellowships and grants from institutions including the New York Foundations of the Arts, Open Society Foundations, Africa No Filter (a Rockefeller-sponsored project), and a U.S. Congressional proclamation.
Kuwornu transitioned into documentary filmmaking after two decades in television and radio, inspired by Spike Lee, and established his production company, Do The Right Films, in New York. His debut film, "Inside Buffalo" (2010), explored the story of the African-American infantry combat unit 92nd Division in Italy during World War II, winning numerous international awards and setting the stage for his multi-layered visual style.
Other notable works include "18 Ius Soli" (2012), addressing citizenship issues for children born in Italy to African and immigrant parents, and "Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema" (2016), advocating for diversity in the film industry. His latest documentary, "We Were Here - The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe", continues his mission of challenging assumptions about culture, history, identity, and race.
In 2024, Adriano Pedrosa selected Fred Kudjo Kuwornu's We Were Here to exhibit at the Central Pavilion of the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale: Foreigners Everywhere. This prestigious selection highlights the film's significance in addressing themes of cultural identity and historical erasure within the global contemporary art discourse.
Kuwornu was also named among the top ten “Culturepreneurs of Tomorrow: Pioneers Who Shaped the Global Cultural Landscape in 2024” by Cultured Focus Magazine.
In 2025, Kuwornu received two major international honors: the Dan David Prize, the world's largest history award, which recognized his outstanding contributions to reinterpreting the past through film and scholarship; and the Folger Shakespeare Library Artist Research Fellowship in Washington D.C., awarded to visionary artists engaging with early modern studies