In the wake of Spike Lee’s Miracle at Sant’Anna and Fred Kudjo Kuwornu’s documentary, Inside Buffalo, a different documentary about the Afro-American soldiers who liberated Tuscany during the Second World War is now in the final phase of filming in Tuscany.
Produced by the non-profit Pacific Film Foundation, in collaboration with the Toscana Film Commission, The Good Giants will detail the places and battles along the Gothic line, thanks to the accounts of 88-year-old Ivan Houston, who was one of the young Buffalo soldiers.
The film will focus on the gratitude of the Italian people as well as the discrimination faced by the Afro-American soldiers, having just overcome segregation in their own country, while they fought for others’ freedom. Despite having played a key role in liberating entire European countries, these soldiers failed to enjoy full civil rights when they returned to America.
Local authorities in Lucca and the surrounding area seized the opportunity of Houston’s Tuscan visit to oversee the filming by awarding him with a token of their recognition and gratitude for his war efforts.
