Leola Calzolai-Stewart

Leola Calzolai-Stewart, co-founder of the Maryland-based production company FLOWSTATE Films, directed the historical documentary, The American Diplomat, which aired nationally on PBS’ American Experience. The film explores the little-known story of three Black diplomats representing the United States overseas at the height of the civil rights movement and the early Cold War period. The project garnered support from Black Public Media, Firelight Media, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Leola is currently developing a Chicken and Egg-supported film that centers on Black romance writers, examining the history of their work and the profound hope and inspiration readers draw from it. Her editing credits include the feature documentaries The Last Song Before the War and Dear Walmart. She is a Chicken and Egg Research Grant recipient, a Black Public Media 360 Incubator+ alumna, and a Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellow. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, she now resides in Sugar Land, Texas with her family. Leola holds an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a BA from the University of California at Davis.

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ABOUT THE AMERICAN DIPLOMAT

The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African American ambassadors — Edward Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, the three men were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Oft reputed as “pale, male and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate. Through rare archival footage, in-depth oral histories and interviews with family members, colleagues and diplomats, the film paints a portrait of three men who left a lasting impact on the content and character of the Foreign Service and changed American diplomacy forever.