FILM

On Monday, February 21 at 7 p.m., the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will honor Black History Month and the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification by screening Inside Buffalo, an award-winning documentary that tells the story of the 92nd Buffalo Division: the segregated African-American combat unit that fought with outstanding heroism in Italy during World War II. The screening is free and open to the public, and is presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum; the office of Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas’ 18th congressional district); and the Consulate General of Italy in Houston. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for this program, with seating on a first come, first served basis.

Several people will make opening remarks, including MFAH film curator Marian Luntz; Buffalo Soldiers National Museum director Captain Matthews; Consul General of Italy Fabrizio Nava; and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Remarks will acknowledge honored guest Mrs. Arlene Fox, the Houston-based widow of Lt. John Fox, who was killed in action in Italy and received a posthumous Medal of Honor in 1997. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker Fred Kuwornu, an Italian filmmaker of African heritage, and Captain Matthews; Alvia Wardlaw, director and curator at the Texas Southern University Museum; Professor Angela Holder, Houston Community College; and Dr. Howard Jones, an independent historian and retired professor of history at Prairie View A&M University.

Mr. Kuwornu’s appearance is part of the museum’s Visiting Filmmakers Program, supported by a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Fred Kowornu’s feature film tells the important story of Americans who served their country abroad, despite facing discrimination at home,” said Luntz. “The MFAH is pleased to present this moving feature during Black History Month and in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, paying tribute specifically to these soldiers and the adversity that they overcame both in the United States and in liberation of Italy.”

Inside Buffalo, which was awarded Best Documentary at the Black International Cinema Berlin 2009, recounts a critically important piece of Civil-Rights history. The “Buffalo Soldiers” were men who valiantly fought two wars at the same time: one against the Nazis, the other against racial discrimination. Those who survived found that their contributions went unnoticed upon their return to United States. Director Fred Kuwornu searches out little-known aspects of the story, including details of the friendships forged between African-American soldiers and the Italian partisan fighters and villagers they liberated from fascist rule.

It was a 2008 meeting with Spike Lee, who was shooting Miracle at St. Anna on location in Tuscany, which inspired Kuwornu to start this very personal voyage of discovery, culminating in the powerful documentary. Inside Buffalo is a patchwork of stories that were nearly forgotten, until now.

For more information, please visit www.insidebuffalo.org/.

The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (BSNM)
 The primary objectives of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and Heritage Center are to preserve, promote and perpetuate the history, tradition and outstanding contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers toward the development and defense of the United States of America. The mission and goals are to interpret, articulate, collect, display and preserve historical artifacts, documents, videos, prints and other historical memorabilia which details the history of the brave men and women who overcame extreme adversity while gallantly fighting the great American wars.

MFAH Films
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s film program is the largest of its kind in the southwestern United States. MFAH first began screening films in the 1930s, and the Brown Auditorium, located in the Caroline Wiess Law Building and designed by Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, opened in 1973. The auditorium immediately distinguished itself by having stadium seating 20 years before such design became the standard for American movie theaters, and because the Caroline Wiess Law Building is one of only two museums designed by this major twentieth-century architect. Marian Luntz, the film program director and curator of film and video at MFAH since 1990, continues the program’s tradition of showcasing a broad range of classic and contemporary Hollywood films, foreign language films, and premieres of independent films—many by local artists. Often, critics, scholars, and filmmakers come to the showings as visiting speakers to give audiences a deeper understanding of movies and moviemaking. In 2005 and 2006, MFAH Films was named “The Best Place to See Vintage Flicks” by the Houston Press. In 2008, the Houston Film Critics Society honored the department with an award for “Outstanding Achievement in Film Programming.” At the 2010 Cinema Arts Festival Houston, Marian Luntz was honored for her twenty years at the MFAH.

Pictured:  Members of the 92nd Division, © Library of Congress.