Marilena Umuhoza Delli

Marilena Umuhoza Delli (born 03 May 1981) is an Italian-Rwandan photographer, filmmaker, lecturer, radio presenter, and author. She is the author of two 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.https://www.mudec.it/ita/collezione-permanente-2021/ 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==
Marilena was born in Italy to her Italian father, Giovanni Delli, from Bergamo and her mother, Myriam Mukamegeza, who immigrated from Rwanda.
==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. In Corriere della Sera's Sette (magazine), award-winning journalist, Gian Antonio Stella, wrote that Delli's writing is "tough and hilarious."http://www.aracneeditrice.it/aracneweb/index.php/review.html?rev-id=RCN1590 il Manifesto states her work features "biting humor."https://ilmanifesto.it/una-storia-afro-italiana-nella-terra-dei-lumbard/
==Photography==
Delli’s photographic work has been featured on the covers and artwork for over thirty-five records by international music artists. Relatedly, her photos have been published by such publications as the New York Times, BBC, Rolling Stone, and CNN.https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/13/africa/ukerewe-tanzania-albinism-white-african-power/index.html Bomb (magazine)https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the-lost-art-of-raw-recording/ and No Depressionhttps://store.nodepression.com/products/ghosts-fall-2021 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 Sicilyhttps://solelunadoc.org/il-razzismo-nei-mass-media/?doing_wp_cron=1631968531.0907030105590820312500— where she also served on the jury— and WOMEX.https://www.womex.com/virtual/piranha_arts_1/event/the_continued_of Amongst other networks, her footage has been used on segments for PBS television. https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/articulate/clip/ian-brennan-and-democratization-music-sxa6jr
==Radio==
Since January 2021, Delli has curated and co-hosted the Afro Descendant Excellencies program on the national radio network, Radio Radicale.
== 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 is being exhibited at MUDEC, the Museo delle culture (Milano) through 2024.
In 2020, Delli was nominated as one of Italy’s Top 50 “Women of the Year” by the national Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica.
==Education==
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).
==Books==
as author
* Razzismo All'Italiana: Cronache Di Una Spia Mezzosangue (Aracne Editrice [Roma], 2016). Preface by Cécile Kyenge.
* Negretta: Baci razzisti (Red Star Press [Roma], 2020) Afterword by Stella Jean.
as photographer
* How Music Dies (or Lives): Field-recording and the Battle For Democracy in the Arts. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing|Allworth Press, 2016. . With a foreword by Corin Tucker.
* Silenced by Sound: the Music Meritocracy Myth PM Press, 2019 . With a foreword by Tunde Adebimpe.
*Muse-Sick: a music manifesto in fifty-nine notes PM Press, 2021 . With a foreword by John Waters.
== Discography (music albums Delli has provided cover photos and films for)==
* 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)Hal Horowitz "Bob Forrest: Survival Songs", American Songwriter, October 7, 2015. Accessed October 24, 2017 – 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- (record label)|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- (record label)|Anti-, September 2020) single(Anti- (record label)|Anti-, 2019)
* 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)https://twitter.com/dazed – 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 https://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/tanzania-albinism-collective-release-new-single-celebration-international-albinism
* Sons of South Sudan, Acholi Machon (Good Deeds Music, July 2021)https://www.rhythmpassport.com/discover/daily-discoveries/daily-discovery-acholi-machon-sons-of-south-sudan/ – 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
Category:1981 births
Category:Italian writers
Category:Italian photographers
Category:Italian filmmakers
Category:people from Bergamo