Streaming virtual from June 26-30. Tickets are $5 | Free for all NOFS Members!
Click here to purchase or reserve your virtual ticket and watch the trailer.
Reminder: NOFS Members will need to login to your member account to access your free ticket.
CODED BIAS | 2020 | United States, United Kingdom, and China | Dir. Shalini Kantayya | Language: English and Mandarin with English subtitles
When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that most facial-recognition software misidentifies women and darker-skinned faces, as a woman of color working in a field dominated by white males, she is compelled to investigate further. What she discovers drives her to push the US government to create legislation to counter the far-reaching dangers of bias in a technology that is steadily encroaching on our lives. Centering the voices of women leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected, Coded Bias asks two key questions: what is the impact of Artificial Intelligence’s increasing role in governing our liberties? And what are the consequences for people stuck in the crosshairs due to their race, color, and gender?
Before the screening, watch a recorded conversation on AI’s Creative Potential: Exploring Generative AI in Film and TV with Erik Weaver, Director of Adaptive Production at Entertainment Technology Center and NOFS Film and Conference Programmer Zuri Obi. This conversation will explore how AI can be used as a creative companion and its impacts on creative authorship, agency, and equity in film and TV. They will discuss current and near-future AI technologies with the aim of helping filmmakers navigate ways to engage with, as well as protect work from, this rapidly evolving technology.
About our speakers:
Erik Weaver, a specialist focused on the intersection of cloud and the media and entertainment industry, is currently director of ETC’s Adaptive Production project and special projects. Prior work at ETC includes “Production in the Cloud” that encompassed many aspects of the cloud, including transport, security, metadata, long-term storage, and the formation of an agnostic framework that unites key vendors and studios. Erik was also global M&E strategist for Western Digital. Weaver has fostered and achieved many accomplishments in the M&E market including executive producer of “The Suitcase,” (CAA’s People’s Choice award, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), a project focused on HDR, cloud-based workflows and Live 360; executive producer of “Wonder Buffalo” (2017 SXSW Interactivity competition) that focused on an HRD first, Cloud, & Volumetric capture. The project brought together by Volumetric capture, Photogrammetry, Ambonisic(?) sound, and interactivity. He chaired/programmed NAB’s “Next Generation Media Technologies” Conference 2014-2017, as well as vNAB/vETC 2015-2019. Erik also led the SMPTE C4 MR30 Standards group, which oversaw and helped educate the M&E industry on using C4, Semantics, and NoSQL for Managing Motion Picture Data. He has spoken at dozens of M&E conferences and tradeshows.
Zuri Obi is a Haitian-American artist raised with deep cultural roots in magical realism. As a Camerawomxn, she has collaborated with artists such as Solange and Lizzo, and as Creative Producer, her projects have screened at notable film festivals, including Sundance and won top awards at New Orleans Film Festival, AFI and BlackStar. Zuri also works as a Film Curator at New Orleans Film Society, where she champions community-centered cinematic
Click here to purchase or reserve your virtual ticket and watch the trailer.
Presented with support from
An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
Screening in-person on Sunday, March 24, 7PM at the Broad Theater (636 N. Broad, New Orleans). Tickets are $16 General | $13 for NOFS Members.
Streaming virtual from March 24-31. Tickets are $11 General | $8 for NOFS Members.
Click here to purchase in-person or virtual tickets and watch the trailer.
Reminder: NOFS Producer’s Circle, Director’s Circle, and Director’s Circle Gold members receive complimentary tickets. Login to your member account to access your benefits!
Watching virtually? Join your fellow moviegoers from coast-to-coast on Tuesday, March 26, and stream the film as part of the National Evening of Science on Screen!
KANAVAL | 2023 | Canada, Luxembourg | Dir: Henri Pardo | Language: French and Creole with English subtitles
Rico (Rayan Dieudonné) is a curious boy, living with his schoolteacher mother Erzulie (Penande Estime) in a small port town on the coast of Haiti in 1975. During an annual celebration, and despite his mother’s warnings of danger, he slips out into the night to witness the town’s carnival celebrations.
We see Kanaval — the Haitian version of Carnival — from the point-of-view of Rico, as a blending together of real and magical moments. Everything is exuberant and fascinating, until he returns home to find his beloved mother being attacked.
Migrating to safety in a small rural town in Quebec, Rico and Erzulie try their best to get accustomed to their new world with the assistance of an older couple that warmly takes them in. While Rico tries to make sense of this snowy province, with hunting, snowmobiling, and racist bullies all around, he’s unable to grasp why his mother, still grappling with her trauma, is becoming distant from him. So he does what many six-year-olds do, and conjures up an imaginary friend, Kana, from Haitian myth, who becomes his guide to figuring out the alien world he’s found himself in.
Following the in-person and virtual screenings of Kanaval, join us for a recorded conversation between NOFS Artistic Director Clint Bowie and Monica Cazes, a Licensed Professional Counselor based in New Orleans. This insightful discussion will delve deeper into the complexities of trauma depicted in the film and its profound implications for individuals and communities alike.
During the conversation, Monica will explore the concept of “secondary trauma,” which arises from indirect exposure to traumatic events, a phenomenon experienced by the lead protagonist in Kanaval. Drawing from her extensive experience working with individuals dealing with addiction recovery, relationship issues, and trauma, Monica will discuss how traumatic stress can lead to lasting changes within certain brain areas. Additionally, she will shed light on the effects of secondary trauma and its impact on individuals’ mental and emotional well-being.
About our speaker: Monica Cazes is a Licensed Professional Counselor based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Psychology from the University of Central Florida, and a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University of New Orleans. In her private practice, Full Circle Counseling, she provides therapy services for individuals regarding addiction recovery, relationship issues, and dysfunctional family dynamics through a trauma-informed lens. Prior to starting her own practice, she spent years working in the inpatient substance use world treating drug addiction and trauma.
Click here to purchase in-person or virtual tickets and watch the trailer.
Presented with support from
An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
We are pleased to announce a special 20th anniversary screening of the critically acclaimed documentary film and NOFF alum, Shalom Y’all (2003) in partnership with The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, The Broad Theater, and the creators of Shalom Y’all.
Encore screening!
December 6 at 6:45 PM | Broad Theater
December 3 at 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM | Broad Theater (636 N. Broad St, New Orleans) – $12 general and $8 for NOFS members, Museum of Southern Jewish Experience members, military, seniors, and youth.
Click here to purchase in-person screening tickets. [Important: If purchasing online via the Broad Theater website, please use the Senior Rate. If purchasing in-person at the Broad, please mention your NOFS membership. Direct questions about in-person tickets to the Broad Theater.]
The film will be available for virtual screening through NOFS’s Virtual Cinema from December 3-9, 2023. Tickets are $12 general and $8 for NOFS members and Museum of Southern Jewish Experience members.
Click here to purchase a virtual ticket.
The event is All-Ages, and is ADA accessible.
The screening will be followed by a short panel discussion with national leaders exploring Jewish culture in the American south and the changes the region has seen in the past twenty years. Panelists include Kenneth Hoffman, Executive Director of The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience (New Orleans, LA); Marcie Cohen Ferris, Interim Director, of Center for the Study of the American South, UNC-CH, and professor emeritus in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC); and Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director Mississippi Humanities Council (Jackson, MS).
About the film:
Traveling in a vintage Cadillac, filmmaker Brian Bain, a third-generation Jew from New Orleans, sets out on a 4200-mile road trip through the American South. Driving through Delta flatlands, small towns in Mississippi, suburban subdivisions, Texas ranches, and sprawling sunbelt metropolises, what he uncovers is the unique and diverse history of southern Jews.
Along the way, Bain woos his future wife, herself a southern Jew, and discusses Jewish participation in the civil rights movement with Andrew Young. Shalom Y’all is peppered with interesting characters, including Zelda Millstein from Natchez, a hoop-skirted tour guide at a plantation; Leo Center, a Golden Gloves boxing champion from Savannah who learned how to box by literally fighting his way to get to synagogue; Tupelo’s Jack Cristil, Mississippi State’s football game announcer for nearly a half-century; an African American-Jewish police chief; a kosher butcher; and musician provocateurs Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. Bain discovers a vibrant, regional culture and hundreds of years of rich history in a film that is happily flavored with both its Jewish and southern roots.
Shalom Y’all had its New York premiere at Lincoln Center, followed by screenings at dozens of film festivals around the world from Vancouver to Jerusalem (including the New Orleans Film Festival!). In addition, the film was released to high praise with television runs on Showtime’s–SundanceChannel and PBS. This fall marks the project’s 20th anniversary, and the filmmakers will be revisiting the landscape of southern Jewry and how it has evolved over the past 20 years.
In celebration of Black History Month and in partnership with the PATOIS New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival, we were pleased to present a FREE encore screening of MLK/FBI, which was screened as a part of the 2020 New Orleans Film Festival.
MLK/FBI is the first film to uncover the extent of the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on newly discovered and declassified files, utilizing a trove of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and unsealed by the National Archives, as well as revelatory restored footage, the documentary explores the government’s history of targeting Black activists and the contested meaning behind some of our most cherished ideals. Featuring interviews with key cultural figures including former FBI Director James Comey and directed by Emmy® Award-winner and Oscar®-nominee Sam Pollard, MLK/FBI tells this astonishing and tragic story with searing relevance to our current moment.
The screening was followed by a special conversation with director Sam Pollard, New Orleans artist and activist Shana M. griffin, and New Orleans cultural advocate Renard Bridgewater, a member of the Eyes on Surveillance coalition.
On February 6th, you joined us for the launch of the new book “Truth and Consequences: Game Shows in Fiction and Film”, written by Mike Miley, Loyola University Film Professor. Miley presented excerpts from this exciting work intertwined with a five round film trivia game!
Presented by the New Orleans Film Society, the event was free and open to the public thanks to our kind hosts at the brand new Beaubourg Theatre at 614 Gravier St.
Attendees formed teams of 6-8 for the trivia game with fellow film lovers. PRIZES for the top three teams included tickets for The 23rd New Orleans French Film Festival, vintage New Orleans Film Festival t-shirts and posters.
Who is Mike Miley?
Mike Miley teaches literature at Metairie Park Country Day School and film studies at Loyola University New Orleans. His work has appeared in TheAtlantic.com, Bright Lights Film Journal, Critique, Music and the Moving Image, The Smart Set, and elsewhere. While he has never appeared on a game show, he has dominated many a trivia night. Visit Miley’s website here.
Over the course of three months, you joined us for a three part film and conversation series co-organized by the New Orleans Film Society and Ogden Museum of Southern Art titled PLACE OVER TIME: Perspectives on the South through Film showcasing three films by Southern filmmakers with different perspectives on the Southern experience. Screenings were held at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, located at 925 Camp Street, with filmmakers in attendance for post-film discussions.
Admission to the series was free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of The Helis Foundation.
Sherman’s March sets out to follow General William T. Sherman’s infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War, but ends up finding something else. Director Ross McElwee in attendance for a post-film discussion. Free and open to the public. Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
“This film is a phenomenon. One of my favorite documentaries of all time.” —Quentin Tarantino Hands on a Hardbody is a documentary about a competition to win a hardbody truck in a small Texas town. It is one of the most enduring and charming portraits of Southern life during the mid-90s and spawned a Broadway musical and a feature screenplay from acclaimed director Robert Altman. Free and open to the public.
Amongst the cane fields of rural Louisiana, a deeply religious woman struggles to reconcile her convictions of faith with the love she has for her alcoholic son and troubled preacher. Actors Dominique McClellan and Karen Kaia Livers in attendance for a post-film discussion. Free and open to the public.
In September 2019, New Orleans Film Society members and New Orleans Film Festival pass holders joined us for an early kick off of the 30th New Orleans Film Festival with a free Pimm’s Cup happy hour at The Library and a screening of Downton Abbey The Movie at the Prytania Theatre.
Become a member today by clicking here, or purchase a festival pass here.
Members also get special discounts on festival passes.
“Being crazy maybe is not so bad if you can be that way undisturbed. New Orleans gave me that.” – Charles Bukowski
In August 2019, we invited any and all to join us for a birthday tribute to the famous American poet Charles Bukowski, and the extraordinary, lesser known tale of how New Orleans unleashed him to the world.
To celebrate the 30th year of the New Orleans Film Society’s film programming, admission to the Summer Film Series was made free and open to the public.
Below is a list of all programing offered.
Three men, previously unknown to each other, are arrested in New Orleans and placed in the same cell. The trio eventually try to escape prison together.
Summer Film Series at the Orpheum is presented by the New Orleans Film Society, in partnership with the Orpheum Theater, Gambit Weekly, and WWNO.
MEMBERS HAVE IT BEST!
This Summer, the New Orleans Film Society members get one free popcorn at each event of the Summer Film Series at the Orpheum; enjoy the member-only screening of The Last Black Man in San Francisco at the Prytania Theatre; and get $100 off of All-Access Passes for the 30th annual New Orleans Film Festival (October 16-23, 2019) during the Summer Pre-Sale until July 9th, 2019. New Orleans Film Society Memberships and New Orleans Film Festival passes may be purchased on-site at every event.
See all additional benefits members enjoy and join the Film Society today by clicking here.
Purchase All-Access Passes during Summer Pre-Sale for the 30th New Orleans Film Festival here.
Bayou Maharajah is a poetic documentary with rare footage, photographs, and interviews of late New Orleans pianist James Booker, whose great talent masked personal struggles with substance abuse and isolation. Bayou Maharajah took home the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention when it played as the Closing Night selection at New Orleans Film Festival in 2013.
Thursday, July 25th, 7 PM, doors at 6 PMWhen four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling, and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.
Local comics Nkechi Chibueze, Ashleigh Branch, and Camille Roane will be on the stage to warm you up before the film begins. It’s going to be a night full of laughter!
Nkechi Chibueze is a happy-go-lucky stand-up comedian/photographer/teacher currently living in New Orleans Louisiana. Nkechi is a proud founding member of No Lye Comedy, a collective which provides access to comedy education and performance opportunities for Black Women in New Orleans through monthly stand up & sketch shows, writing & improv workshops, and podcasting.
Ashleigh Branch New Orleans native, Ashleigh Branch is a comedian that finds the funny in everyday life. As a wife and mother the material is easy to come by. Ashleigh started doing stand-up-comedy in 2016. Ashleigh believes comedy is a fun way to experience and work out the ups and downs of life. Though her first love is stand-up comedy; writing, sketch, and improv are also things she loves to do. She is also part of two all black, all female comedy groups; Black Girl Giggles and No Lye Comedy.
Camille Roane is a New Orleans based comic who spends most of her time picking fights on Facebook and trying to learn to twerk. She likes to think that makes her a dancer, activist, and comedienne. She is a founding member of No Lye Comedy and was named one of Thrillist’s “Best Undiscovered Stand Up Comedians”. Some people pursue entertainment careers to get their mamas out of the hood. She’s working hard because she just wants to be interviewed by “Fresh Air’s” Terry Gross.
Thursday, June 27th, 7 PM, doors at 6 PM
CHASING DREAMS: A LEAH CHASE STORY
Director: William Sabourin O’Reilly, Documentary, 2011, 27 min.
A heart-warming glimpse into the life of our community’s recent loss, culinary icon Leah Chase, who continued to fight every day for human dignity with inspiring energy and joy. Winner of a jury award at the 2011 New Orleans Film Festival.
Immediately followed by
ELLA BRENNAN: COMMANDING THE TABLE
Director: Leslie Iwerks, Documentary, 2016, 1h 36min.
Panel: William Sabourin O’reilly, director of Chasing Dreams: A Leah Chase Story and Debra Shriver, producer of Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table will be in attendance to join a panel alongside Ti Adelaide Martin, daughter of Ella Brennan, and Kimberly Reese, granddaughter of Leah Chase. The panel will be moderated by Poppy Tooker.
In July 2019, New Orleans Film Society members were invited to RSVP and bring a plus one for a free, advance screening of the new film THE FAREWELL, directed by Lulu Wang.
In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With The Farewell, writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves.
Thursday, July 11, 6PM, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
Free for New Orleans Film Society members, public tickets are available here.
If you are already a member, please click here to RSVP.
In collaboration with the New Orleans Film Society, Ogden After Hours presents “Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts,” a film exploring the life of a unique African American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. The film is a compelling human narrative that gives voice to a man who endures a long life of extreme hardships during an era of legalized racial indignities, to become one of America’s most prominent artists, exhibited in museums and collections worldwide.
Prior to the screening, Leslie Umberger, Curator of Folk and Self-taught Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, will discuss “The Art of Bill Traylor: Interpreting a Visual History.”
Following the screening, Ogden Museum Curator of the Collection, Bradley Sumrall, will moderate a Q&A with Umberger and Jeffrey Wolf, the film’s director, producer and editor.
This event is free to Ogden Museum and New Orleans Film Society members.
Photography by Albert Kraus, Collection of Tommy Giles Photographic Services.
In June 2019, we were thrilled to present an exclusive member-only screening of The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Based on a personal story by Jimmie Fails, and directed by his childhood friend Joe Talbot, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last January and won Best Director, and Best Creative Collaboration Awards. A cross between drama and documentary, the New York Times calls The Last Black Man in San Francisco “an indelibly beautiful story of love, family and loss in America from two childhood friends turned filmmakers.”
Did you see what I heard?
In Spring 2019, you joined us in celebrating our hometown music heroes with this new music film series: Seeing Music, presented by the New Orleans Film Society, in partnership with the NOCCA Institute, WWOZ, and OffBeat Magazine.
The last event of the series was held on Tuesday, April 9th with What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?, directed by Roberto Minervini (director of Louisiana – The Other Side, 2015), the film premiered and won four awards at the Venice Film Festival last September. The film is set in Summer 2017 and weaves four strands together, comprising different voices within the African-American communities of New Orleans. After the film, we’ll have a conversation with film participants: Judy Hill, who won awards at both Venice and Mar del Plata Film Festivals, who is also the daughter of late New Orleans R&B icon Jessie Hill, Big Chief Kevin Goodman (Flaming Arrows), and members of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense featured in the film.
Admission was FREE for New Orleans Film Society members and NOCCA students, with tickets being available to the public for $10.
The series kicked off on February 5th, 2019 with Closeup: Tank & the Bangas. The screening was followed by a conversation with Tank and the Bangas and director Charlie Steiner (of WWOZ) and continued with a screening and conversation of Buckjumping, directed by Lily Keber and won the Audience and Best Cinematography Awards at #NOFF2018.
A third screening with a surprise film was held on April 11th.
Seeing Music: A Music Film & Conversation Series
presented by the New Orleans Film Society
Venue: Freda Lupin Memorial Hall, The NOCCA Institute, 2800 Chartres St., New Orleans.
Dates:
February 5th, 2019 – Closeup: Tank & the Bangas
March 14th, 2019 – Buckjumping
April 9th, 2019 – What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?
Time: Mingle with other music lovers from 7pm – 7:30pm with a cash bar in the lobby of the Lupin Hall, film begins at 7:30pm, post-film Q&A to follow.
Closeup: Tank and the Bangas – February 5th, 2019, 7pm, Lupin Hall at the NOCCA Institute.
Closeup: Tank and the Bangas, dir: Charlie Steiner, USA, 2018, 35 min.
This WWOZ documentary is in-depth profile of the exciting New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas as they surge to national prominence. The film pulses with fiery poetry and the band’s infectious music that defies categories.
Tank and The Bangas were formed in 2011 at an open mic set in New Orleans, centered at a shotgun house, Jerk Chicken Sam’iches and a drum set. Instantaneously this group knew that they had something that stirred crowds that cried out for original music from them. Combining the various musical technique among the Bangas, coupled with the instilling play on lyrics from the lead vocalist; Tank and The Bangas have quilted a unique sound that singles them as one of the most distinctive groups to come out of New Orleans. Group members include Tank/ Lead vocalist/Norman Spence on Bass/keyboard, Joshua Johnson/Drums, Merell Burkett/keys/ Nita Bailey/Percussion; and various other Bangas.
Buckjumping – March 14th, 2019, 7pm, Lupin Hall at the NOCCA Institute.
Dir: Lily Keber, USA, 2018, 80 min.
Way downtown, a crowd gathers to watch the men of the Nine Times Social Aid and Pleasure Club show out on their second-line Sunday. At Seal’s in the 7th Ward and Sportsman’s Corner in Central City, hard-working drag king Hustler entertains his adoring public. After school, the young ladies of the Edna Karr High School dance team practice for the big parade. And before dawn on Mardi Gras day, the indians of the Creole Wild West set out on their long patrol across the city. On any day of the week, in any corner of the city, the people of New Orleans are on their feet, dancing to mourn the dead, to celebrate life, and to leave their everyday routines for a moment of pure joy. Featuring interviews with DJ Jubilee, Mannie Fresh, Mia X, and more, the second feature by Lily Keber (Bayou Maharaja) offers a panoramic view of the city’s ever-evolving dance traditions.
What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire? – April 9th, 2019, Lupin Hall at the NOCCA Institute.
7 pm – Reception, 7:30 pm – Film Screening, 8:50 pm – A conversation with Judy Hill, Big Chief Kevin Goodman (Flaming Arrows), and members of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense featured in the film.
Dir. Roberto Minervini, USA, 2018, 120 min.
Summer 2017, a string of brutal police killings of young African American men has sent shockwaves throughout the country. A Black community in the American South tries to cope with the lingering effects of the past and navigate their place in a country that is not on their side. Meanwhile, the Black Panthers prepare a large-scale protest against police brutality. A blistering meditation on the state of race in America from the director of THE OTHER SIDE.