Fellows Spotlight: David Barbier, Jr.

During Summer 2022, David Barbier Jr. (2018 Nyah Fellow), got an exciting opportunity to work on his first international documentary film in Italy.

David, a senior at Syracuse University, supported the making of “The Tuskegee Airmen: Return to Ramitelli,” a documentary filmed in partnership with the World War II Foundation on the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of African American airmen and military pilots to successfully complete their training and enter the US Army Air Corps in 1941.

David, two other Syracuse students, and their television, radio and film professor Shaina Holmes traveled to air fields and air bases where the airmen had been stationed in Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast. The students served as production assistants, shadowed the cinematographers, and created their own short videos about the project.

David got to see the fruit of his labor on February 9th, 2023, when he watched the documentary premiere with hundreds of viewers at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. He was not only interviewed in the documentary, but also listed in the credits as a production assistant.

The film will air on public television and PBS stations nationwide in May.

Congratulations, David!