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.