MoAD and the Italian Cultural Institute present a film screening and discussion of Autumn Beat, an exciting and unprecedented story of Black culture in Italy. Director Antonio Dikele Distafano will be present for the screening and a post-film discussion with Mark Sabb, Creative Director at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

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This program is in person and takes place at the Roxie Theater, located at 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.

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Autumn Beat produced by Amazon Studios and coproduced by Indiana Productions is an exciting and unprecedented story about Black culture in Italy, and the role of music as a means of redemption and search for identity. Two brothers, Tito and Paco, share the same dream: to break into the rap music world. Paco is a born performer and Tito knows how to write like no other, but ambition, life, and love for the same woman will test their bond. The film, which spans three decades, has a cast mostly made up of Italians of African descent comprising Hamed Seydou, Abby 6ix, Geneme, Juliet Joseph, Dylan Magon, Mohamed Diallo, Marco Renna, Mamy Seny Gueye, Francesco Danquah, and Mafoku Michelle Cloe Kengne, and Italian hip-hop stars: Gué Pequeno, Ernia and Sfera Ebbasta.

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In a bid to increase black representation in new Italian cinema, well-known Italian author turned screenwriter Antonio Dikele Distefano made his worldwide debut on Netflix Italia in 2021 with the groundbreaking miniseries, “Zero,” featuring a primarily black cast. The story is focused on life for Black Italian youth and their plight as members of an invisible class of society. But when a young Black teen called Zero discovers he can literally make himself invisible, he uses his gift to fight rich and powerful forces attempting to gentrify his neighborhood. The historic nature of the series is even more remarkable given there are so few leading Black characters in Italian film, and the entertainment industry is creating quite a buzz about the first Black Italian film director backed by a major studio in Italy. The 30-year-old multi-hyphenate creator hails from Angolan parents, was born and raised in the Northern Italian city of Ravenna, and now lives and works in Milan. Before connecting with Netflix Italia, Antonio had already become an inspiration to many Black Italians through publishing, television, and social media projects. He went on to write five novels for Mondadori between 2014 and 2019, with combined sales exceeding 500,000 copies. Along the way, he founded Esse Magazine in 2016 as an outlet for young Black artists to gain recognition and did video interviews with emerging performers. Today, Esse is the largest rap publication in Italy. In addition, he owns the communications agency Cantera. His first foray into screenplays netted the newly released “Zero” Netflix Italia miniseries, which launched him onto the world stage. Antonio dreams of founding his own production company one day and producing films that bring Black performers onto the world stage so they’re no longer invisible. He says doing quality projects that positively portray underserved communities will give people an opportunity to exist and be seen. If the mainstream chooses to ignore them, that’s their choice, but they’ll no longer be invisible.