Festivals

New Orleans Film Festival 2022 to open at expanded Second Line Stages

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The New Orleans Film Society will open its 33rd annual, Oscar-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival with “The Inspection,” the narrative feature debut from multi-year New Orleans Film Festival alum Elegance Bratton, on Thursday, Nov. 3. The NOFF screening schedule and film guide are now available at neworleansfilmfestival.org. In-person screenings will take place between Nov. 3 and Nov.

opinion

Viewpoint: Norman C. Francis documentary showcases WYES’ commitment to New Orleans

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“We knew he was destined for something, because he had all the qualities of a leader,” said the city’s former First Lady Sybil Morial about her friend and college classmate Norman C. Francis. A courageous civil rights icon, chairman of Liberty Bank, original investor in the Saints, and former president of Xavier University, where he served with honor and distinction for 47 years, Francis is the subject of a new documentary on WYES-TV that will premiere Tuesday (Sept. 27) at 8 p.m.

Produced by WYES Executive Vice President Dominic Massa and moderated by Sally-Ann Roberts with Thanh Truong, the documentary is filled with interviews from key community leaders, including former Tulane President Scott Cowen and former Mayors Marc Morial and the late Moon Landrieu, as well as members of the Francis family. Born into a working-class family in Lafayette, Francis was steeped in the Catholic faith and the importance of receiving a good education. The nuns at Lafayette’s St.

business

Prytania Theatre reopens after hurricane repairs and renovations

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After Hurricane Ida’s damages prompted a six-month closure, the Prytania Theatre, 5339 Prytania St., reopened last week. The theater has returned to its daily showings of current and classic films.

Hurricane Ida took out “a big chunk” of the roof, so the building had significant water damage, Prytania owner Robert Brunet said. “We had to do a lot of demo and cleaning,” he said. 

Brunet restored the theater to its pre-storm condition and added updates with a few special touches. However, he said, he kept the classic, familiar feel of the theater that fans have come to appreciate. “The theater is 110 years old, and we wanted it to still feel that way,” he said.

events

New Orleans Film Festival opens with an emphasis on ‘New Orleans’

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The New Orleans Film Festival’s gala red-carpet opening took place Saturday night (Nov. 6) at the Orpheum Theatre with the screening of “C’mon, C’mon.”

The public has an opportunity to see the film today (Nov. 7) at the Broadside, 600 N. Broad St. at 7 p.m.

The final third of the film takes place in New Orleans. The main character, played by Joaquin Phoenix, travels the country interviewing children about the future, what they would change and other probing questions.

events

Three films shot in Uptown to be shown at New Orleans Film Festival

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The Uptown Prytania Theatre was slated to be a venue for the 32nd New Orleans Film Festival, until it was damaged in Hurricane Ida. The beloved single-screen movie house remains closed for repairs. But Uptown will be represented in three shorts shot in Uptown neighborhoods. 

The annual film festival kicks off in-person screenings on Nov. 4, and runs through Nov. 14.

land use & development

Film studio gets a thumbs up from City Planning Commission for new building in Lower Garden District

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New Orleans’ expansion as a center for TV and film production moved a step forward Tuesday as Second Line Stages got City Planning Commission approval to build a new office building in the Lower Garden District. The Planning Commission voted in favor of changing the zoning of a lot at 836 Market St. to allow construction of the two-story commercial building, although its own staff recommended denying the studio’s request. Lower Garden District neighbors have also objected to the request, saying the studio’s activities have been intrusive. 

The TV and film studio’s three stages have served as a backdrop for numerous productions, including American Horror Story: Coven, Treme, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. 

The new office building, located behind the studio, will be about 32,000 square feet with a landscaped parking area. About 30 to 45 people will be able to work there. 

The property is zoned for residential use.

opinion

Viewpoint: New WYES leadership team has deep local roots

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With the recent retirement of WYES president Allan Pizzato, two native New Orleanians who are driven to broadcast excellence, Robin Cooper and Dominic Massa, have taken the helm to bring new ideas to the Crescent City’s iconic public television station. 

Leading the station since 2013, Pizzato oversaw the station’s tricentennial coverage, the creation of new shows and documentaries, and the construction of the $17 million headquarters that opened in 2017. The chief operating officer under Pizzato, Cooper assumed the position of president and CEO last month, leaving her previous spot available for long-time WWL-TV Executive Producer of Special Projects Dominic Massa. “WYES was built by some of the city’s best and brightest leaders, who believed in the power of television to educate, inform and inspire. That mission couldn’t be more important or needed today,” Massa said. By all accounts, Massa is one of the hardest working and most respected broadcasting professionals in New Orleans television.

schools

Middle school filmmakers at Audubon Charter enjoy their long-awaited premiere

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Audubon Charter School’s very first film festival was scheduled for March 14, 2020. That was five days after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Louisiana, and it would be over a year before the middle school students — who wrote, acted in and helped to shoot the movies —  would be able to show off the products of their hard work. Out of the glare of the May morning sun, in the cool Prytania Theatre, Stephanie Knapp, an Audubon parent and teacher who led Audubon Charter students through the process of making movies together, took the stage. The students and their supporters — parents, family and friends — were masked and spread out in the theater, with alternating rows taped off to allow for sufficient social distancing. “It’s interesting to see how everything is changed, how everything is different … and everything is still kinda the same,” Knapp said.

crime

Viewpoint: Oscar nod for ‘Time’ could bring international attention to Louisiana’s prison system

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Sibil Fox and Rob Richardson (also known as Fox and Rob Rich) are among a handful of New Orleanians who have a personal stake in Sunday night’s 2021 Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Awards. The poignant film about their two-decade-long effort to find justice in what is often considered a racially charged and overly harsh prison-industrial complex, “Time,” is a favorite for Best Documentary Feature. 

Also up for Oscar consideration is “One Night in Miami,” which was shot in New Orleans and LaPlace, as well as musical works by New Orleans natives and NOCCA graduates Terence Blanchard and Jon Batiste, who have been nominated in the Best Score category. LSU grad Steven Soderbergh is one of the event’s producers. “Time” is only the second documentary post-Katrina New Orleans to be nominated for an Oscar. New Orleans-based award-winning filmmaker and Loyola University instructor Garrett Bradley directed “Time.”

film and television

Locally produced ‘Garden District’ named Best Short Film at London International Film Festival

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A locally shot short film, “Garden District,” won Best Short Film at the 2021 London International Film Festival, held virtually last month from London, Garden District Productions announced. During the ceremony, Bryan Batt and Barret O’Brien were awarded Best Lead Actors in a Short Film for their roles in “Garden District.” “We are so proud of the amazing cast and crew of ‘Garden District’ for this prestigious national honor,” said “Garden District” creator Rosary O’Neill. “This film was written to celebrate New Orleans and all of its eccentricities, and the stellar local cast really deserve this recognition.”

“Garden District” is a short film created as a sizzle reel for a future potential television series.  It was produced in its eponymous neighborhood by a local cast and crew and focuses on the life of a New Orleans family.