Times Educational Supplement Partner badge

Film Education - Resources, Training, Events

Skip to main content

Follow us on: Twitter, Facebook RSS
Email this page to a friend
Print Header

Inform others

Red Tails is inspired by the true story of World War II’s first African American fighter squadron and therefore portrays an important episode of black history. Both citizenship and PSHEE involve learning about prejudice, discrimination and the importance of respecting different ethnic, cultural and religious identities.

In the UK each October Black History Month (BHM) is celebrated. A key aim of BHM is to promote knowledge of Black history, culture and heritage.

The following websites include a range of information, events and activities about Black history. There is no mention, however, of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen.

 

Activity

Using the information on the worksheet, the still images and filmed interviews below, make a PowerPoint style presentation or write an article about the Tuskegee Airmen. This could be specifically framed for Black History Month or could be delivered as a stand-alone presentation at any time of the year.

Download PDF: PDF Icon

Your audience is students your age and your aim is to inform them about the true story of the Tuskegee airmen in an engaging way.  Try to guide your audience to particular aspects of the story that you think are most relevant, interesting or important.

Filmed interviews

Now watch these clips with members of the cast, Director and production team of Red Tails. As you watch, try to note down phrases or ideas that you think would be significant to include in your presentation.

Original images

 

When you’ve completed this task, share your efforts with the rest of your class and take a vote on the best one, which could be presented in an appropriate format and setting during Black History Month celebrations in your school.

George Lucas on Red Tails

0001 00:00:07:14 00:00:10:15

I'm not a flyer, but I love fast things.

0002 00:00:12:06 00:00:13:21

I'm shaking him!

0003 00:00:13:23 00:00:16:04

This project came about
from a friend of mine

0004 00:00:16:06 00:00:19:02

who was a photographer
who shot for the air force.

0005 00:00:19:04 00:00:21:04

He told me about
the story of the Red Tails.

0006 00:00:21:06 00:00:23:19

I said, "Wow, that's a really good idea
for a movie."

0007 00:00:24:22 00:00:26:03

Action!

0008 00:00:26:05 00:00:29:00

We've made it all the way
from Tuskegee here to Romatelli.

0009 00:00:29:02 00:00:32:23

(Lucas) I started on this 20 years ago
and I just stuck with it.

0010 00:00:33:00 00:00:35:12

It's been a project
that I really wanted to do.

0011 00:00:36:11 00:00:39:03

I never even met a girl
as beautiful as this plane.

0012 00:00:39:05 00:00:42:11

I love P-51s. When I was young,
that was the hottest airplane.

0013 00:00:42:23 00:00:46:02

I can't believe somebody was 19,
flying these things,

0014 00:00:46:04 00:00:49:11

and then going into battle.
It's pretty stunning and amazing.

0015 00:00:49:13 00:00:51:16

- Junior, get out of there!
- Where is he?

0016 00:00:51:18 00:00:53:11

I can't see him. (screams)

0017 00:00:53:13 00:00:56:04

Being able to bring this to reality,

0018 00:00:56:06 00:00:58:19

being able to actually stand there
with the P-51s,

0019 00:00:58:21 00:01:02:20

with the replication of Romatelli,
it's the most exciting thing you can do.

0020 00:01:05:19 00:01:07:11

With digital technology now,

0021 00:01:07:13 00:01:10:01

we can do a real dogfight,
the way it should be done.

0022 00:01:10:17 00:01:12:10

Come on, man, take him out!

0023 00:01:12:12 00:01:15:05

(Lucas) You can follow it
and make it dramatic.

0024 00:01:19:02 00:01:20:08

Alright, you got him.

0025 00:01:20:10 00:01:21:16

Oh, thank you, Lord!

0026 00:01:21:18 00:01:23:24

(Lucas)
The struggle for African-Americans

0027 00:01:24:01 00:01:25:10

to fight during World War II

0028 00:01:25:12 00:01:28:05

is part of the story;
you can't tell the story without it.

0029 00:01:28:07 00:01:30:15

We have a right
to fight for our country,

0030 00:01:30:17 00:01:32:20

the same as every other American.

0031 00:01:32:22 00:01:34:23

(Lucas) I wanted something
more personal,

0032 00:01:35:00 00:01:37:24

about the individual pilots
and what they went through.

0033 00:01:38:01 00:01:39:08

The guys that loved to fly.

0034 00:01:40:24 00:01:44:21

A lot of people wanted to be involved
in this project. We were really lucky.

0035 00:01:44:23 00:01:46:15

- You kept your word.
- How you doing?

0036 00:01:46:17 00:01:47:19

Turned out nice.

0037 00:01:47:21 00:01:49:23

(Lucas) We got a great, fantastic cast.

0038 00:01:50:00 00:01:51:15

I was a big fan of The Wire.

0039 00:01:51:17 00:01:54:11

That's really how I decided
to hire Anthony.

0040 00:01:54:13 00:01:57:06

I've done my 20 years.
I'm handing the ball to you.

0041 00:01:57:08 00:01:58:10

Aye aye, sir.

0042 00:01:58:12 00:02:01:21

(Lucas) Anthony hired a lot of
the kids that were in The Wire

0043 00:02:01:23 00:02:03:24

and that whole little world.

0044 00:02:04:01 00:02:06:12

Rick McCallum and I
worked together for years.

0045 00:02:06:14 00:02:09:21

Charles Johnstone has also been working
on this project for 20 years.

0046 00:02:10:10 00:02:13:07

- I love just walking around.
- So walk me around.

0047 00:02:13:09 00:02:15:19

(Lucas) We had meetings
with the Tuskegee airmen

0048 00:02:15:21 00:02:18:01

to make everything
as accurate as possible.

0049 00:02:18:03 00:02:20:17

- These guys look pretty good.
- (laughs)

0050 00:02:20:19 00:02:22:13

We had a lot of sessions.

0051 00:02:22:15 00:02:25:12

We brought all the Tuskegee airmen
and the cast together.

0052 00:02:25:14 00:02:29:06

They had these weekends and they'd talk
to each other and tell stories

0053 00:02:29:08 00:02:32:12

so that the actors could get into
the real guys, who they are.

0054 00:02:32:14 00:02:36:09

Do you feel the responsibility to be
somebody for kids to look up to?

0055 00:02:36:11 00:02:40:04

We were the local rock stars
of the black community.

0056 00:02:40:06 00:02:44:09

The story of the Tuskegee airmen
is a big story. It's an amazing story.

0057 00:02:48:14 00:02:51:02

Just like Star Wars,
it's a big action picture,

0058 00:02:51:04 00:02:53:04

lots of dogfights, lots of excitement.

0059 00:02:53:06 00:02:57:17

But it's basically about a bunch of kids
that went through an amazing journey

0060 00:02:57:19 00:02:59:14

and all came out heroes.

0061 00:02:59:16 00:03:01:11

- To the last man, we fight!
- We fight.

0062 00:03:01:13 00:03:02:19

- We fight!
- We fight!

0063 00:03:02:21 00:03:06:23

(Lucas) They're the knights
of the contemporary age.

0064 00:03:07:00 00:03:11:08

I'm hoping that this film is
an inspiration to young people today.

 

David Oyelowo interview

0001 00:00:00:08 00:00:02:11

One more pass.

0002 00:00:05:08 00:00:08:13

(laughs) How do you like that,
Mr Hitler?

0003 00:00:09:06 00:00:11:13

My name is David Oyelowo.

0004 00:00:11:15 00:00:13:07

I play Lightning in Red Tails.

0005 00:00:13:09 00:00:15:20

My character is a bit of an outsider.

0006 00:00:15:22 00:00:18:14

- Where are you?
- Taking the train from the front.

0007 00:00:18:16 00:00:21:22

(Oyelowo)
He sort of swims against the flow.

0008 00:00:22:06 00:00:23:06

Gotcha!

0009 00:00:23:21 00:00:25:02

I like a good scrap.

0010 00:00:25:04 00:00:27:21

Not in real life, but on screen.

0011 00:00:28:18 00:00:33:00

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr David Oyelowo!

0012 00:00:34:17 00:00:36:11

Thank you.

0013 00:00:36:13 00:00:40:22

The first three days of this shoot
were mind-blowing.

0014 00:00:40:24 00:00:44:17

It felt more like I was involved
in a space launch

0015 00:00:44:19 00:00:46:06

than actually doing a film.

0016 00:00:46:08 00:00:50:05

When Easy comes to my left,
was I looking in the right places?

0017 00:00:50:07 00:00:52:15

We've been shooting
a lot of the gimbal stuff.

0018 00:00:52:17 00:00:55:07

This is us in planes, the green screen.

0019 00:00:55:09 00:00:57:21

The CGI people are going to drop

0020 00:00:57:23 00:01:00:10

weird and wonderful things
into the background.

0021 00:01:00:12 00:01:02:13

Brand-new 109s.

0022 00:01:04:14 00:01:06:07

Boom!

0023 00:01:06:09 00:01:08:16

Not-so-brand-new 109s.

0024 00:01:08:18 00:01:12:04

(Oyelowo) George Lucas has done things
no one else has, really.

0025 00:01:12:06 00:01:15:17

If there's anyone you want to be in
charge of that, it would be Lucasfilm.

0026 00:01:15:19 00:01:19:00

This is actually really
for my action figure, isn't it?

0027 00:01:19:02 00:01:21:24

I think every actor has this notion
that one day,

0028 00:01:22:01 00:01:25:19

all they'll need to do is take a picture
of you and you can go home.

0029 00:01:26:13 00:01:28:00

Of course, that's not true,

0030 00:01:28:02 00:01:32:08

but this technology is so outside
of my comprehension,

0031 00:01:32:10 00:01:35:24

seeing the film is going to be as
exciting for those of us who did it

0032 00:01:36:01 00:01:37:14

as it will be for the audience.

0033 00:01:40:19 00:01:43:03

We went up in some P-51 Mustangs.

0034 00:01:43:05 00:01:46:17

- Are you ready for this experience?
- No. But I'm going to do it anyway.

0035 00:01:46:19 00:01:49:08

It's all about not throwing up.

0036 00:01:49:10 00:01:52:00

The speed at which these things go

0037 00:01:52:02 00:01:55:11

and the physical ability you need
to fly these things

0038 00:01:55:13 00:01:59:18

let alone doing that while being shot at
is just incredible.

0039 00:01:59:20 00:02:04:04

My respect for just what
we're trying to show is crazy.

0040 00:02:04:06 00:02:05:06

Yeah.

0041 00:02:05:08 00:02:08:20

With the highest and utmost respect,

0042 00:02:08:22 00:02:12:04

Colonel Archer has come here
to lend us his services.

0043 00:02:12:06 00:02:14:05

I'm being you now, you see.

0044 00:02:14:07 00:02:18:16

Meeting actual Red Tails, Lee Archer,
Bill Holloman and Roscoe Brown

0045 00:02:18:18 00:02:21:21

was invaluable
from an authenticity point of view.

0046 00:02:21:23 00:02:26:13

Hi, David. You're the man who flashed
his peepee getting into a jet plane.

0047 00:02:26:15 00:02:28:08

How you going to get out of that?

0048 00:02:29:24 00:02:32:01

(Oyelowo) Roscoe Brown
walked onto the base

0049 00:02:32:03 00:02:36:01

and said, "That's where that was.
That's what that looked like."

0050 00:02:36:03 00:02:38:04

"You guys look a bit like what we did."

0051 00:02:38:06 00:02:40:17

Good replicas. Good replicas.

0052 00:02:40:19 00:02:42:14

(Oyelowo) You can't play a hero.

0053 00:02:42:16 00:02:47:07

In life, it was about a genuine threat
to mankind.

0054 00:02:47:09 00:02:48:21

And they stepped up.

0055 00:02:48:23 00:02:50:02

I'm away!

0056 00:02:50:04 00:02:53:04

Easy, you got Pretty Boy on your tail.
Dive right now! Dive.

 

The Tuskegee Airmen - part 1

0001 00:00:06:11 00:00:09:24

(man 1) In the air, there's no black
or white or green or whatever.

0002 00:00:10:01 00:00:11:05

You're a pilot.

0003 00:00:11:07 00:00:13:19

(man 2) The country's in trouble.
You work.

0004 00:00:13:21 00:00:15:08

You do what you have to do.

0005 00:00:15:10 00:00:17:12

You can't turn your back
on your own country.

0006 00:00:17:14 00:00:19:21

(man 4) Bombers wanted the Red Tails.

0007 00:00:19:23 00:00:22:10

They felt comfortable

0008 00:00:22:12 00:00:25:06

because they could see
the Red Tails above them.

0009 00:00:25:08 00:00:27:21

(man 5) You take the Negro
and you give him training

0010 00:00:27:23 00:00:29:06

and an opportunity

0011 00:00:29:08 00:00:31:09

to exercise that training,

0012 00:00:31:11 00:00:33:16

they will do extraordinary things.

 

The Tuskegee Airmen - part 2

0001 00:00:06:21 00:00:10:23

(man 1) The 99th came eyeball to eyeball
in air-to-air combat

0002 00:00:11:00 00:00:13:08

with the German Luftwaffe.

0003 00:00:13:10 00:00:15:23

Bombers would be here.
We'd be above the bombers

0004 00:00:16:00 00:00:19:12

to provide sort of a net against
the German planes coming down.

0005 00:00:19:14 00:00:22:13

(man 3) We said we'd better get
a real name and identification

0006 00:00:22:15 00:00:26:21

so that the bombers and the Germans
would know when we were on a mission.

0007 00:00:26:23 00:00:28:16

It was decided jointly

0008 00:00:28:18 00:00:33:17

that we would paint the tails red,
and we became known as the Red Tails.