Event Details
Tue, September 02, 2025
18:00 – 20:30
VILLA SASSETTI
Via Bolognese, 120
50139 Florence, Italy
A screening followed by a discussion with Fide Dayo (Festival Director, African Diaspora Cinema Festival) and the Director, Rico Speight, who will join the discussion via Zoom
About the movie:
Rediscovering Fanon, directed by Rico Speight
Logline: Rediscovering Fanon is a social justice documentary that explores the enduring truths of race articulated by psychiatrist, philosopher, and activist Frantz Fanon (1925–1961). The film reintroduces Fanon’s revolutionary theories, connecting them to contemporary racial tragedies in the U.S., such as the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, and George Floyd. Rediscovering Fanon highlights Fanon’s fierce opposition to racism and his unwavering commitment to a dialectic of liberation and the creation of a new humanity.
Topic: The film centers on the fight against anti-black racism, a key concern in Fanon’s work. Fanon argued that the issue of race is universal and demands the attention of all races. He wrote, “The white man is sealed in his whiteness. The black man in his blackness. We shall seek to ascertain the directions of this dual narcissism and the motivations that inspire it.” Rediscovering Fanon examines Fanon’s influential theories on the psychological impact and psycho-existential complex resulting from the juxtaposition of white and black races, showcasing his dedication to dismantling this complex.
Through a detailed exploration of Fanon’s life, work, and legacy, Rediscovering Fanon aims to deepen understanding of racial complexities and emphasize the urgent need for activism and transformative change.
Testimonials and Reviews:
“Rico Speight is a very talented political filmmaker… currently working on a feature documentary about Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist, philosopher, and revolutionary thinker… it will be a wonderful and important film.” — Sam Pollard, Director (Eyes on the Prize, Citizen Ashe, The League)
“Speight is an accomplished filmmaker, who has used the documentary form to explore individuals, ideas, and social movements. He often finds compelling individuals in the center of complex social moments as a way to explore much larger ideas and events about politics and history.” — Louis Massiah, Scribe Video Director, Producer-Director (The Bombing of Osage Avenue, W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices)
“Film aesthetics have misled us if we cannot see that this is the practice of a cinema for the liberation, rather than the exploitation of our better feelings.” — Clyde Taylor, Film Scholar, on The People United
“Aimé Césaire’s A Season in the Congo, directed by Rico Speight, played to a sold-out La Mama Theater… demonstrating the play’s tragic resonance. One wishes the story was further from truth.” — Colin Kinniburgh, Journalist (FRANCE 24)