On February 11, I went to the We Were Here: The Untold Story of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe (2025) screening and Q&A with Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker Fred Kuwornu. The film unveils the untold history of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe through iconic works. One of my favorite things about the film is that it highlights that Black Africans existed in Europe for centuries.
In the media that we consume about Renaissance Europe, there is little to no representation of Black people. For instance, the TV series “Bridgerton”, which takes place in Europe but is not historically accurate, repeatedly faces criticism for “inaccurately” casting actors of color. I think Bridgerton highlights people’s incapability to imagine that Black people existed in Europe during the Renaissance era. One of the things that I appreciated from the film is that it made me consider how history is diluted and passed down to us to consume. Which poses questions like: Who is in charge of history? How do societies decide to tell which stories and why? Why is it that Black stories are the ones that are usually hidden?
I think it is really cool of Kuwornu to use art to tell this story because when I think about Renaissance art, I do not think about Black people in those pieces. Another thing that I found cool that the documentary highlights was showing that Black people during this era perform many different kinds of roles. There were slaves who worked for Europeans but there were also African royal families. The audience really enjoyed the film asking Kuwornu about his creative process and the “why” behind the film. I do wish the film included more information on the structural reasons why Black stories are untold and how that has shaped the lives of Black people in Europe today. Overall, I thought the film had an interesting and enlightening take on telling the untold stories of Black Africans.
-Da’Mirah Vinson