Black Star of "12 Years A Slave" Movie Almost "Whited Out" of Posters in Italy: Movie Makers Think Italians Are Racist?

The poster most Americans saw (left) and the poster Italians saw.
Won't Italian audiences be disappointed when they actually see the movie?

The Italian premiere of “12 Years a Slave” officially kicked off Italy’s 18th annual Capri Hollywood film festival on Friday without talent in tow, following controversy sparked by the pic’s teaser posters that placed the focus on Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender rather than Chiwetel Ejiofor, the star of the film.

As previously reported, Italo distributor BIM Distribuzione, which will release the Steve McQueen-helmed drama in Italy on Feb. 20, has apologized, pulled the posters that sparked a racial discrimination uproar on the Internet, and announced they will be using the original U.S. materials for “Slave,” translated into Italian, for the pic’s Italo campaign going forward.

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