Draft:Daphne Di Cinto

Daphne Di Cinto is a Black Italian screenwriter, director, actor and producer. Born and raised near Ravenna, Italy, she is known for her contributions to the film industry connected with her advocacy for underrepresented voices in cinema, with a particular focus on Afro-European ones. l

Daphne has received the Cultured Focus Visionary in Film Award during the 79th Venice Film Festival and the Leader of Change in Creativity Award at the 2023 Black Carpet Awards.

She is known for playing the Duchess of Hasting in the Netflix series Bridgerton.

Education
Daphne attended Roma Tre University in Rome where she majored in Communication Science. She attended 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.

Career and work
Daphne has acted in various independent film productions, among which the award-winning Show Me What You Got by director Svetlana Cvetko. She was featured in a few TV shows on Italian national TV RAI, but she is best knows for playing the young mother of the Duke in season one of Bridgerton.

As a screenwriter, she has a keen interest in topics such as historical memory, identity, migrations and the female gaze.

Daphne has written, directed and produced the award winning short film Il Moro-The Moor, her directorial debut, based on the real story of Alessandro de’ Medici, first Duke of Florence and first man of African descent to become a head of state in Renaissance Europe. The short film won the Oscar Qualifying Reel Sisters Film Festival in New York.

Following a petition started by Di Cinto, the Council of Florence has voted in favor of recognising Alessandro de’ Medici’s name in front of his tomb, where it previously had been omitted.