# Marilena Umuhoza Delli

Marilena Umuhoza Delli (born 3 May 1981) is a Rwandan-Italian photographer, filmmaker, radio presenter, and author. She is the author of four Italian-language books about racism and growing-up with an immigrant mother in one of Italy's most politically conservative region. Her work is exhibited at the MUDEC Museum in Milan (list of museums in Milan). Her photographs have been published around the world by the BBC, CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Libération, Corriere della Sera, Le Monde, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, and the New York Times, among others. In 2020, she was named one of the "Top 50 Women of the Year" by La Repubblica.

## Early life and education

Marilena was born in Italy to her Italian father, Giovanni, from Bergamo and her mother, Myriam, who immigrated from Rwanda.
She holds a master's degree in ‘Language for International Communication' from Università degli Studi di Bergamo for which she wrote her thesis on ‘African Cinema.' Additionally, she studied filmmaking at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

## Work
### Writing

In 2016, her first book, a memoir titled, Razzismo All'Italiana: Cronache Di Una Spia Mezzosangue (Racism Italian Style: Chronicles of a half-blood spy) was published by Aracne Editrice (Rome). In 2020, her second book, a novella titled, Negretta: Baci razzisti (Little Black Girl: Racist Kisses) was published by Rome's Red Star Press. Her third book, Pizza Mussolini, was published in 2023 and also her fourth book, Lettera di una madre afrodiscendente alla scuola italiana. Delli's fifth book, Storia vera dell'Italia nera. Gli afrodiscendenti che hanno fatto la Storia d'Italia, dall'impero romano a oggi was published in the fall of 2024. In Corriere della Sera's Sette (magazine), award-winning journalist, Gian Antonio Stella, wrote that Delli's writing is "tough and hilarious." il Manifesto states her work features "biting humor." She also writes regularly for Vanity Fair magazine.

### Photography

Delli's photographic work has been featured on the covers and artwork for over forty records by international music artists. Relatedly, her photos have been published by such publications as the New York Times, BBC, Rolling Stone, and CNN. Bomb (magazine) and No Depression magazine both published multi-page features on Delli's work in their print editions.

### Film

Delli's documentary film work has been shown at such festivals as Le Guess Who? Netherlands, Sole Luna Doc Film Festival in Sicily— where she also served on the jury— and WOMEX. Amongst other networks, her footage has been used on segments for PBS, ABC News, and CNN International television.

### Radio

Since January 2021, Delli has curated and co-hosted the Afro Descendant Excellencies program on the national radio network, Radio Radicale. Gomorrah (book) author and winner of the PEN Pinter Prize and the European Book Prize, Roberto Saviano, cited Marilena and her program as a source in a feature for Corriere della Sera.

## Awards and commendation

In 2016, Delli provided all of the photos and film for the Zomba Prison Project, the first album of Malawian artists to ever receive a Grammy nomination.
Delli's work has been exhibited at MUDEC (Museo delle Culture di Milano) Museum's permanent collection since 2021.
In 2020, Delli was named as one of Italy's Top 50 "Women of the Year" by the national Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica.
In 2023, she was nominated in the Community category for the Milan Fashion Week Black Carpet Awards sponsored by Vogue (magazine) and Afro Fashion Week.

## Books

as author
* Razzismo All'Italiana: Cronache Di Una Spia Mezzosangue (Aracne Editrice [Roma], 2016). ISBN 978-8854890565 Preface by Cécile Kyenge.
* Negretta: Baci razzisti (Red Star Press [Roma], 2020) ISBN 978-8867182480 Afterword by Stella Jean.
* Pizza Mussolini'' (Red Star Press [Roma], 2023) ISBN 978-8867183753
* Lettera di una madre afrodiscendente alla scuola italiana (PEOPLE, 2023) ISBN 979-1259791924
* Storia vera dell'Italia nera. Gli afrodiscendenti che hanno fatto la Storia d'Italia, dall'impero romano a oggi (Edizioni Piemme, 2024) ISBN 978-8856697025
as featured photographer
* How Music Dies (or Lives): Field-recording and the Battle For Democracy in the Arts. New York City: Allworth Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1621534877. With a foreword by Corin Tucker.
* Silenced by Sound: the Music Meritocracy Myth PM Press, 2019 ISBN 978-1629637037. With a foreword by Tunde Adebimpe.
* Muse-Sick: a music manifesto in fifty-nine notes PM Press, 2021 ISBN 978-1629639093. With a foreword by John Waters.
* Cultural Representations of Albinism in Africa: Narratives of Change Peter Lang (publisher), 2022 ISBN 978-1800791398, book cover image
* Missing Music: Voices from where the dirt roads end PM Press, 2024 ISBN 9798887440378. With a foreword by Evelyn Glennie.

## Discography (album cover photographer)

* Kigali Y' Izahabu, The Good Ones (Dead Oceans Records, 2010) – Rwanda
* He Is #1, Malawi Mouse Boys (IRL, 2012) – Malawi
* Trance Percussion Masters of South Sudan, Wayo (Riverboat, 2013) – Zande people
* South Sudan Street Survivors, General Paolino featuring Mama Celina (IRL, 2013) – South Sudan
* Lapwong (Freedom Fighters), Acholi Machon (IRL, 2014) – Acholi
* Dirt is Good, Malawi Mouse Boys (IRL, 2014)
* I Have No Everything Here, Zomba Prison Project (Six Degrees Records, 2015) – Malawi
* Survival Songs, Bob Forrest (Six Degrees Records, 2015) – Big Sur
* War is a Wound, Peace is a Scar, Hanoi Masters (Glitterbeat, 2015) – Vietnam
* Kibera Esbera [Kenya], West Bridge Band (Electric Cowbell Records, 2015) – Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
* Rwanda is My Home, The Good Ones (IRL, 2015) – Rwanda
* Like a Bird or Spirit, Not a Face, Sainkho Namtchylak (Ponderosa Music & Art, 2015) – Tuva; Brennan also plays on the album
* They Will Kill You, If You Cry, Khmer Rouge Survivors (Glitterbeat, 2016) – Cambodia
* Rough Romanian Soul, Zmei3 (Six Degrees Records, 2016) – Romania
* Forever Is 4 You, Malawi Mouse Boys (Omnivore Recordings, 2016)
* I Will Not Stop Singing, Zomba Prison Project (Six Degrees Records, 2016)
* Why Did We Stop Growing Tall?, Abatwa [The Pygmy] (Glitterbeat, 2017) – Twa people, Rwanda/Burundi
* White African Power, Tanzania Albinism Collective (Six Degrees Records, 2017) – Tanzania
* Our Skin May Be Different, But Our Blood is the Same, Tanzania Albinism Collective (Six Degrees Records, 2018) – Tanzania
* Score for a film about Malawi without music from Malawi, Malawi Mouse Boys (Toy Gun Murder, 2018)
* God is not a terrorist, Ustad Saami (Glitterbeat Records, January 2019) – Pakistan
* Not a homeless person, just a person without a home, Homeless Oakland Heart (Electric Cowbell Records, October 2019)
* Rwanda, You Should Be Loved, The Good Ones (Anti-, November 2019)
* Why [the War]?, Yemen War Refugees (Toy Gun Murder, 2020) – Yemen
* Funeral Songs, fra fra (Glitterbeat Records, April 2020) – Ghana
* Who You Calling Slow?, Sheltered Workshop Singers (Toy Gun Murder, September 2020)
* Soccer (Summer 1988), The Good Ones (Anti-, September 2020) single
* Pakistan is for the peaceful, Ustad Saami (Glitterbeat, October 2020) – Karachi
* I've Forgotten Now Who I Used to Be, Witch Camp [Ghana] (Six Degrees Records, March 2021)
* Prayer to Pasolini, John Waters (Sub Pop Records, April 2021) – recorded onsite in Italy
* We are an island, but we're not alone, Comorian (Glitterbeat Records, May 2021) – Comoros
* Albinism Unity (We Are Still Living In a Troubled World), Tanzania Albinism Collective (Six Degrees Records, June 2021) single
* Sons of South Sudan, Acholi Machon (Good Deeds Music, July 2021) – South Sudan
* I'm So Tired of Evil, Malawi Mouse Boys (Toy Gun Murder, August 2021) single – Malawi
* East Pakistan Sky, Ustad Saami (Glitterbeat Records, October 2021) - Pakistan
* A Lifetime Isn't Long Enough, War Women of Kosovo (Toy Gun Murder, February 2022) - Kosovo
* Rwanda...you see ghosts, I see sky, The Good Ones (Six Degrees Records, April 2022) - Rwanda
* Afar Ways, Yanna Momina (Glitterbeat Records, August 2022) - Djibouti
* The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, Raymond Antrobus (Toy Gun Murder, September 2022)
* Where water meets water: Bird Songs & lullabies, Sainkho Namtchylak (Ponderosa Music & Art, March 2023)
* Thank you for bringing me back to the sky, The Oldest Voice in the World [Azerbaijan] (Six Degrees Records, April 2023) - Talysh people
* Our Language May Be Dying, But Our Voices Remain (Botswana), Taa! (Glitterbeat Records, June 2023) - Taa language
* An Investigator (of Missing Sounds), Raymond Antrobus (Toy Gun Murder, 2023)
* Where the River Bends Is Only the Beginning, Saramaccan Sound [Suriname] (Glitterbeat, January 2024) - Suriname
* Ancestor Sounds, Africatown AL (Free Dirt, February 2024) - Africatown
* Once We Had a Place Called Home, Rohingya Refugees (Toy Gun Murder, April 2024) - Rohingya people
* Your Face Is Like the Moon, Your Eyes Are Stars, Bhutan Balladeers (Glitterbeat, June 2024) - Bhutan
* Another Noise, Raymond Antrobus & Evelyn Glennie (Toy Gun Murder, August 2024)
* Our Ancestors Swam to Shore, N’golá (São Tomé) (Free Dirt/PM Press, September 2024) - São Tomé e Príncipe