Culture
Fred Kuwornu’s ‘We Were Here’ Documentary on Black Africans in Renaissance Europe Accepted For 2026 Oscars
When Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker and historian Fred Kudjo Kuwornu set out to challenge Europe’s selective memory of the Renaissance, he knew the work would be disruptive.
What he didn’t know was that his documentary, We Were Here: The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe, would make its way into the race for the 98th Academy Awards.
The film has now been officially accepted for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category for the 2026 Oscars, a milestone for both African historical storytelling and global cinema.
For Kuwornu, whose work has long centered on recovering suppressed histories, this project is personal.
“Among all artists with Ghanaian heritage in this awards cycle, I am the only one whose work is currently in consideration,” he wrote in a recent note to followers on Instagram. “My documentary brings back the stories that Europe tried to forget.”
Rewriting the Renaissance
We Were Here excavates a rarely acknowledged truth: Africans were not mere spectators — nor solely enslaved laborers — in 15th and 16th century Europe. They were ambassadors, soldiers, scholars, courtiers, artisans, diplomats, and religious figures, shaping cultural and political life from Venice to Lisbon, Florence to Paris.
The documentary traces the lives of figures whose stories have been buried for centuries:
- Alessandro de’ Medici, Europe’s first head of state of African ancestry.
- Juan Latino, the first Black professor in European university history.
- Ne Vunda, the African ambassador to Rome, buried in the historic Santa Maria Maggiore.
- João de Panasco, the African knight immortalized in the King’s Fountain.
- Benedict the Moor, the son of enslaved parents who became a figure of veneration across the Americas.
Through archival work, art analysis, and expert interviews, Kuwornu reframes the Renaissance as a multiracial, multicultural epoch, rather than the homogenous image often taught in textbooks.
A Cultural Intervention With Global Momentum
Debuting at the 2024 Venice Biennale inside the Central Pavilion, the film has since been embraced by universities, museums, cultural institutions, and diaspora scholars across three continents. It has become part of academic conversations about race, migration, identity, and pre-colonial African-European exchanges.
Its Oscar consideration has amplified its reach — and its message.
Historians say the film arrives at a time when Europe is being forced to reckon with monuments, memory, and long-silenced histories. Kuwornu’s project serves as a corrective, arguing that a fuller understanding of Europe’s past necessarily includes Africans whose contributions have been neglected or erased.
Why This Matters
The Oscars often overlook African historical narratives unless framed through slavery, colonialism, or conflict. We Were Here breaks that pattern by presenting Africans as active agents of political and cultural life in pre-modern Europe.
It challenges audiences — in Europe and the African diaspora — to see the Renaissance not as a fortress of white European exceptionalism, but as a meeting point of civilizations.
For Kuwornu, this is not just filmmaking. It’s restitution.
His documentary, he wrote, “reconstructs an erased legacy that connects Europe, Africa, and the Americas.”
A Historic Moment for African Storytelling
Whether the film secures a nomination or not, its presence in the Oscar race marks a powerful moment: a global acknowledgment that the stories of Black Europeans in the Renaissance are not footnotes — they are history.
And after centuries of silence, they are finally being heard through a lens wide enough to include them.
Water splashes against an imaginary wall as people gather to witness one of the most powerful stories in Ewe history.
In Ve-Deme, in Ghana’s Volta Region, the Velukusi Festival brings an ancestral struggle for freedom into the present, transforming a story of oppression, courage and escape into a living act of remembrance.
Celebrated during the first week of October, Velukusi commemorates the traditional account of the Ewes’ escape from the cruel rule of King Aghorkoli in Togo. According to the story passed down through generations, the Ewes were held behind a formidable wall.
Determined to break free, they repeatedly poured water onto a section of the structure until it weakened and collapsed.
Their escape did not end with the fallen wall. To conceal their direction of travel, they walked backwards, leaving misleading footprints for those who might pursue them. This extraordinary detail has become a defining feature of the festival’s historical re-enactment.
Bringing Ancestral Courage to Life
During Velukusi, the community revisits the escape through a dramatic performance that allows younger generations and visitors to connect with the experience of their forebears.
The re-enactment gives physical expression to a story that speaks of collective determination, ingenuity and the enduring human desire for freedom.
The festival reaches its climax with a colourful display of traditional cloths and beads, followed by a grand durbar of chiefs.
Traditional regalia, customary leadership and communal gatherings place Ewe identity at the centre of the celebration.
A Living Heritage
For the people of Ve-Deme, Velukusi is more than a historical commemoration. It strengthens community bonds and keeps ancestral memory alive at a time when younger generations are increasingly exposed to global influences.
For visitors exploring Ghana, the festival offers an opportunity to encounter the Volta Region’s heritage through storytelling, ceremony and traditional craftsmanship.
Velukusi reminds us that freedom is worth remembering—and that experiencing the traditions of Ve-Deme is a meaningful way to understand the resilience of the Ewe people.
Reels & Social Media Highlights
Ghana’s Timeline Erupts: Showboy’s Crude Plea, Asantewaa’s Silence, and a Nation Divided
On Wednesday, 14th October 2026, Ghana’s social media didn’t just trend — it combusted. At the center of the firestorm: Showboy, a deported ex-convict and self-styled provocateur, posting a video begging TikTok star Asantewaa to sleep with him because “everyone has chopped her except me.”
The phrase — crude street slang for sex — detonated across Facebook, X, and TikTok, splitting users between outrage, disgust, and reluctant laughter.
The Asantewaa saga had been simmering for weeks. First, rapper AMG Armani claimed a one-night stand and a pregnancy.
@notorioustrend1 Showboy Goes Hard On Asantewaa For Exp0sing Some Secret In Her Marriage On TikTok Live #ghanabloggers #ghanatiktok🇬🇭 #asantewaaaaa #showboy #notorioustrend ♬ original sound – Notorious🥷 Trend📸
Then Asantewaa herself explained she left her husband over sickle cell genotype compatibility, insisting she wasn’t with Armani until after the split. Showboy’s video poured petrol on the embers.
But the timeline wasn’t only burning with celebrity gossip. In Obuasi, the GES interdicted a headmaster accused of sexual misconduct after students rioted and vandalized school property.
The story — girls alleging assault inside the headmaster’s bungalow, a menstruation claim used as pretext, a school in ruins — resonated because it echoed a painful national truth: institutions meant to protect children often fail them.
Meanwhile, in Agona Nkwanta, a viral video of a man assaulting his wife led to a three-month jail sentence on the very same day, a rare moment of accountability that many users celebrated, even as they questioned why it took a viral clip for justice to move.
What made October 14th distinctly Ghanaian was the collision of these stories.
A culture wrestling publicly with how women are treated — by men like Showboy who see clout in disrespect, by authority figures who abuse trust — while simultaneously turning tragedy into meme fodder, joke captions, duet videos.
As the festive season winds down, Accra has one more reason to stay awake. Live in Ghana – MaddFest arrives at Alora Beach Resort on January 3, 2027, promising six hours of nightlife and celebration for partygoers eager to keep Ghana’s festive spirit alive.
Organised by December in Ghana, an event organiser with experience hosting entertainment events, MaddFest forms part of the social energy surrounding Ghana’s popular festive season, when music, nightlife and gatherings draw locals and international visitors together.
A Night Out by the Beach
Scheduled for Sunday, January 3, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., the event offers an opportunity to experience Accra after dark in a beach resort setting.
While specific performers, food offerings and activities have not yet been detailed, the event’s late-night format promises an extended opportunity for guests to socialise and enjoy the city’s entertainment scene.
Ghana’s December festivities have grown into a major attraction for the diaspora and international travellers, with concerts, parties and cultural gatherings creating opportunities to reconnect with home and discover contemporary Ghanaian music and lifestyle.
Events such as MaddFest contribute to this atmosphere, where entertainment becomes a meeting point for different generations and cultures.
Why MaddFest Deserves a Place on Your Calendar
For visitors, MaddFest offers a chance to experience Accra’s nightlife beyond daytime sightseeing.
Ghanaians returning from abroad may also find it an opportunity to reconnect with friends and enjoy the country’s lively entertainment culture.
The event is not presented as a traditional cultural festival, but its social setting reflects the role music, dancing and shared celebrations play in Ghanaian life.
With Alora Beach Resort providing the setting, guests can plan a night out that extends into the early hours of Monday morning.
Whether you are visiting Ghana for the festive season or simply looking for another reason to enjoy Accra, Live in Ghana – MaddFest offers a date worth considering. Check the official event listing for ticket details and announcements before making plans.
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