Thank You Very Much for All American People

The Allied Liberation of France in 1944 and Its Consequences Here in the States

This documentary is still in development. In particular, parts of the narration for which I have used a temporary voice-over need to be replaced by recordings with African-American voices, which I am having a hard time finding.

Introduction
American movies have generally presented the liberation of France from the perspective of the American soldier, more specifically the white American combat soldier. This documentary focuses on two other important perspectives: how Black American GIs experienced France, and how the French experienced their liberation by the American army.
https://video.kent.edu/media/1_tsmjbyi8

Part I
Encounters between French civilians and American GIs, 1944, from the French viewpoint. Interviews with dozens of French civilians who experienced the liberation of their nation by the American army.
https://video.kent.edu/media/1_bvorjo6g

Part II
Encounters between French civilians and specifically Black GIs, from both the French and the Black American perspective.
https://video.kent.edu/media/1_b2hvz5eo

Part III
The America to which Black GIs returned at the end of the war. How their time in France had changed their expectations, and how their expectatons for egalitarian treatment were received in their homeland.
https://video.kent.edu/media/1_dhpkjgm5

updated 30-7-2023