WH Popcorn Night: President Obama Screens "Red Tails," Invites Film Stars & Tuskegee Airmen

Co-star Ne-Yo reports the visit on Twitter, includes photo of President speaking in White House theater..."#Epic"
On Friday evening at the White House, President Obama and First Lady Obama hosted a private screening of "Red Tails," a long awaited bio-film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the heroic African American World War II fighter squadron.  Guests included surviving Airmen, now in their 80s and 90s, filmmaker George Lucas, the all-star cast and crew members.  The 5:30 PM event in the Family Theater was closed to press, but co-star Ne-Yo, who plays pilot Andrew (Smoky) Salem, tweeted many photos from the visit, including a photo of the President speaking before the screening. The cast includes Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Method Man, and Elijah Kelley. Ne-Yo tweeted the above photo, taken in the Cross Hall, and wrote “The cast of Red Tails in the White House. #EPIC.” (Ne-Yo is at far left; Gooding is center)

Above, with this photo of the President speaking in the White House theater, Ne-Yo wrote “In the theatre at the White House.....yea, you see it. #nuffrespectdue.”

Lucas funded the dramatic and action-packed film with his own money after trying to get it made for 23 years, he said in interviews this week. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black aviators in the US military, and fought heroically in World War II, finally receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. But the unit, which included pilots, bombardiers, gunners, mechanics and support staff, was segregated from white aviation units, and faced incredible prejudice, including not being able to fight alongside white counterparts. They painted the tails of their fighter planes red.

The Tuskegee Airmen trained in Alabama at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), and it took decades for their contributions to be recognized. The film opens nationally on January 20.

Mrs. Obama this evening in Washington will attend the filming of BET HONORS 2012, where the Tuskegee Airmen are among the honorees. Terrence Howard is one of the presenters. Ne-Yo also tweeted a series of photo images of White House statuary and art, including the portraits of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Above, Ne-Yo was using instagram, which allows for compilation images. The caption for this photo was "White House art....”

A trailer for Red Tails:



Online:
Tuskegee Airmen: www.tuskegeeairmen.org

Red Tails: www.redtails2012.com

*Photos courtesy of Ne-Yo