Zeudi Araya, the Eritrean-born actress and producer who became one of the best-known Black screen figures in 1970s Italian cinema and later helped steward a major Italian film library, died on May 24, 2026. She was 75.
Her son, Michelangelo Spano, announced her death in a statement reported by ANSA, Italy's national news agency, on May 30, 2026. He said Araya died at home after a long illness and that funeral arrangements would be private.
Araya was born on February 10, 1951, in Decamerè, Eritrea, then under Ethiopian rule. She moved into Italian cinema in the early 1970s and became closely associated with the popular genre cinema of that decade. ANICA's Archivio del Cinema Italiano lists her Italian film credits beginning with Luigi Scattini's "La ragazza dalla pelle di luna" in 1972.
Her other Italian film credits include "La ragazza fuoristrada" in 1973, "Il corpo" in 1974, "Il Signor Robinson, mostruosa storia d'amore e d'avventure" in 1976, "Giallo napoletano" in 1979, "I paladini - Storia d'armi e d'amori" in 1983, and Giuliano Montaldo's "Il giorno prima" in 1987.
Araya later became part of CristaldiFilm, the Rome-based production and rights company associated with Franco Cristaldi, one of postwar Italy's major producers. CristaldiFilm says that in 1996, Franco Cristaldi's heirs, Zeudi Araya and Massimo Cristaldi, acquired Lux Film and folded it into CristaldiFilm, creating a library of more than 300 Italian classic films and period documentaries.
Araya kept a private connection to Eritrea after building her career in Italy. In a 2015 interview published by iO Donna, she said she took her son to Eritrea every year so he would know her country of origin and meet his grandmother at home.
ANICA, Italy's national association for the cinema, audiovisual, and digital screen sectors, paid tribute to Araya on May 31, 2026, describing her as a long-standing producer-member and a major figure in Italian cinema.
Source: africanfilmpress.com