A bit of Hollywood glitz came to Warner Robins today in the form of an Emmy award for a film produced for the Museum of Aviation’s World War II Exhibit. The film, Papa Said, We Should Never forget, won a Southeast Regional Emmy Award for Photography, the eighth award the film has won in the last 12 months. The Emmy was presented to the Museum by Atlanta Film Producer David Druckenmiller at a luncheon also attended by Frenchman Dominique Francois who coordinated the shooting in Graignes, France. Druckenmiller shot the film on location in the town where U.S. paratroopers landed on D-Day, June 6, 1944 using the townspeople as actors.
“This is a big deal,” said Druckenmiller, who also presented an Emmy statue to Francois to take back to Graignes, France. “We showed the film to the people in Graignes this year and more than 400 hundred people were there. They treat World War II veterans like American Idols.”
The film tells the story of the Normandy invasion through the eyes of two French girls who were children in the village of Graignes during World War II. It was shot entirely on location in Normandy, France, and originally aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting in November 2008 and again in May 2009. It has been distributed to all Houston County Schools and libraries along with a teacher’s guide on World War II.
Melissa Spalding, Museum Education Department Director, accepted the award on behalf of the Museum staff that worked on the film. “It was a great experience to be involved with this film,” said Spalding. “This is not just a movie, but a teaching tool which will help educate children and visitors for years to come.”
The film is shown free to the public every day in the Museum’s Scott Exhibit Hangar. It is part of the award-winning D-Day Exhibit the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the Air Invasion of Normandy which opened at the Museum in October 2008.
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Atlanta Film Director David Druckenmiller, director of the Museum of Aviation WWII film Papa Said, We Should Never Forget, presents the Southeast Regional Emmy Award he received to Melissa Spalding, Museum Education Director, and Dominique Francois who coordinated the shooting in France. Spalding and Marilyn Ashmore, Museum of Aviation Foundation Capital Campaign Director were on-site Associate Producers of the film. Besides this Emmy, the film has also won seven other film awards including a Platinum Remi from the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival for World Peace and Understanding. The film is shown free of charge daily in the Museum of Aviation’s Scott Exhibit Hangar.
