Private Project

The Moor

The illegitimate son of Pope Clemente VII and of a woman of African descent turns out to be the heir to the Medici dynasty and becomes the first Duke of Florence, despite his own family having trouble accepting him.

  • Daphne Di Cinto
    Director
    Directorial debut
  • Daphne Di Cinto
    Writer
  • Daphne Di Cinto
    Producer
  • Greenlight Project
    Producer
  • Yasmine Holness-Dove
    Producer
  • Onda Film
    Producer
  • Alberto Boubakar Malanchino
    Key Cast
    "Alessandro de' Medici"
    Summertime (Netflix), Easy Living (dir. Miyakawa brothers), DOC Nelle tue Mani (RAI)
  • Paolo Sassanelli
    Key Cast
    "Papa Clemente VII"
    Nastri d'Argento Best Supporting Actor (Song'e Napulè)
  • Andrea Melis
    Key Cast
    "Ippolito de' Medici"
  • Balkissa Maiga
    Key Cast
    "Soenara"
    The Man Without Gravity (Netflix), ACAB
  • Lorenzo Tronconi
    Key Cast
    "Jacopo da Cesano"
  • Mouhamed Faye
    Key Cast
    "Young page"
  • Loretta Grace
    Key Cast
    "with the voice of"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Il Moro
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 4, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Daphne Di Cinto

Daphne Di Cinto is an Afroitalian screenwriter, director and actor born in Northern Italy. She begins her film and theatre studies in Rome, where she focused on acting at Scuola di Cinema, while getting her degree in Communication Science at Roma Tre University. She attends the faculty of cinema at Sorbonne University in Paris before moving to New York for her Master in Fine Arts at the Actors Studio Drama School. At the moment, she lives between London and Italy. Daphne can be seen in a few series for Rai, such as Anna e Yusef directed by Cinzia Th Torrini and a few independent feature films among which Show Me What You Got, directed by Svetlana Cvetko, best film at Taormina Film Festival 2019. She played the Duchess of Hastings in the Netflix series Bridgerton. Daphne has worked on script and artistic direction for various commercial concept proposals for brands as Nespresso, San Pellegrino and Barilla. As a screenwriter, she has developed both features and series within various genres, from comedy to sci-fi. She was a finalist in both Screencraft Film Fund Spring 2021 and the Phil Fox Award for Playwriting 2020.
After developing a series based on the life of Alessandro de’ Medici she has written directed and produced the short film Il Moro-The Moor, which is her directorial debut. The short film has won the Best Italian Short Film Award at Fabrique du Cinéma 2021.
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Daphne Di Cinto è una sceneggiatrice, regista e attrice afroitaliana, nata in Emilia Romagna. Inizia gli studi in campo filmico e teatrale a Roma, dove studia recitazione alla Scuola di Cinema mentre si laurea in Scienze della Comunicazione all'Università Roma Tre. Frequenta la facoltà di cinema della Sorbona a Parigi, prima di spostarsi a New York per conseguire un Master in Arte Drammatica all'Actors Studio Drama School. Da qualche anno vive tra Londra e l’Italia. Daphne ha recitato in alcune fiction Rai tra cui Anna e Yusef e in film indipendenti quali Show Me What You Got, miglior film at Taormina Film Festival 2019, diretto da Svetlana Cvetko. Interpreta la Duchessa di Hastings per la serie Netflix Bridgerton. Daphne ha curato la scrittura e la direzione artistica per vari concept proposal pubblicitari per brand quali Nespresso, San Pellegrino e Barilla. A livello di sceneggiatura ha sviluppato sia film che serie di vario genere, dalla commedia allo sci-fi. È stata finalista di Screencraft Film Fund Spring 2021 e del Phil Fox Award for Playwriting 2020.
Dopo aver sviluppato una serie basata sulla vita di Alessandro de’ Medici, Daphne ha scritto, diretto e prodotto il cortometraggio Il Moro, la sua prima regia. Il Moro ha vinto Miglior Cortometraggio Italiano ai Fabrique du Cinéma Awards 2021.

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Director Statement

When kids in Western Europe follow their history classes, be it primary, secondary or high school, their books dedicate one chapter to Black history. And this chapter is usually titled: “The Slave Trade”. Afroitalian children find themselves in a learning environment where they are taught that it’s the only chapter of their history worth knowing. Their classmates receive the same information, thus growing up affirming a belief that allows for the creation and normalisation of a category of second tier citizens formed by those who look “different”. While the latter grow up experiencing an inherent loss of dignity that becomes part of their identity, every seed of racism and intolerance finds fertile grounds if planted in the first group who is treated as privileged and “better than the others” from such an early age.

The question that keeps knocking loudly in my mind is: how would a whole generation’s perception change, if they were to know their own history from an objective point of view? If they were to learn about the diversity of characters that existed. If instead of seeing drawings of people we all assumed were white, time were spent to understand Carthage, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, who they were, what they looked like and their contributions. If only time were spent to understand how the Greek culture, cradle of our own, was brought back from Africa. How that channel was open and thriving. How Africans went to Greece and Italy as much as European intellectuals went to Africa in the same way that today they go to Oxford or Yale. How Aryans came from the Middle East and weren’t a Nazi invention. However, we must start one step at a time and I am starting with the story that is closest to my home. Florence, the Renaissance, the most well known Italian family: the Medici.

With my short film “The Moor”, based on the life of Alessandro de’ Medici I want to give the Afroitalian and the Afroeuropean community a sense of belonging. Children from these backgrounds will grow up knowing there was a real historical figure who looked like them: not a slave, but a duke.

The film also aims to serve as a platform and a 'voice' for Alessandro. Despite historians’ attempts at whitewashing and discrediting his rule, traces of his life are still apparent (e.g. He currently rests in an unmarked grave in Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence) and for me, and I’m certain for many other Afroitalians, this is a part of Italian culture waiting to receive the prominence and recognition it deserves.