About Cinema on the Bayou
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival is committed to advancing the understanding of Cajun and Creole cultures through film screenings, film panels and cultural exchanges among French Louisiana, the United States and the Francophone countries of the world. The festival is focused on presenting nationally and internationally acclaimed humanities themed documentaries and filmmakers with truly original voices. Cinema on the Bayou will also showcase new, cutting edge, fiction and non-fiction films from around the world in a relaxing environment, laced and embellished with Cajun culture's unique identity markers, exquisite cuisine and great music. We screen uncompromising, thought-provoking films that make us laugh and cry; engage in serious discussions about matters important to independent filmmakers; and have a lot of fun and good times with old friends and make important connections with new friends who share our commitment to quality film.
About Cinema on the Bayou
Pat Mire, Artistic Director
Rebecca Hudsmith, Festival Director
The 5th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival was exciting, stimulating, energetic, informative and just plain fun! Many thanks are due to our visiting filmmmakers from Montreal, Brooklyn, Houston, Corpus Christi, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette and all the wonderful films screened. We also want to thank all the participants in our panel discussions on Mardi Gras and Zydeco music, including Dr. Ray Brassieur, Herman Fuselier, Dr. Roger Wood, Morris and Lawrence Ardoin, and Sid Williams. We thank as well Dr. Barry Ancelet and Dr. John Laudun for their participation and commentary on the films and panel topics. And the Festival could not have been possible without the support of our community partners, individual sponsors and many volunteers. Congratulations to our "goujon caille" award winners: Best Humanities-Themed Documentary - "All Over But To Cry" by Jennifer John Block; Best Roots Culture Documentary - "Looking For Trouble" by David Brasseaux; Best Cinematography - "Mon Reve Familier" by Jimmy Ferguson; Audience Favorite - "Mardi Gras: Made In China" by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin.
The 4th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival was a great success thanks to our enthusiastic filmgoers and the wonderful filmmakers in attendance from New York; Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Clarksdale, Mississippi; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington, New Orleans and Lafayette. We must also thank our incredible scholars, folklorists John Laudun and Carl Lindahl, who moderated the post-screening audience discussions of our roots culture films, both new and classic, and added so much to the richness of the Festival experience. Thanks also to our local treasures, guitarists and song-writers Gerry McGee and Sam Broussard, for their invaluable contributions to the Festival through their participation in the Music in Film panel discussion. We also thank Shadow Distribution, Duke University and the Dallas Art Museum for their support in getting quality films to Lafayette . We thank our visiting filmmakers, especially Sarah Knight and Deborah Cohen, for their participation in and contributions to the Fair Use Rights panel discussion. We congratulate David Redman and Ashley Sabin, whose film "Invisible Girlfriend" was named Best Humanities-Themed Documentary; Roger Stolle and Jeff Konkel, whose film "M for Mississippi" was named Best Roots Culture New Film; Deborah Cohen, whose film "Going, Going, Going," was named Best Roots Culture Classic Film; and Sarah Knight, whose film "Hot Flash" was named Audience Favorite.
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival is funded, in part, with grants from The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Consulat General de France a La Nouvelle-Orleans, and the Quebec Government Delegation in Atlanta, Georgia.
Community partners include LITE, Pack and Paddle, Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission, Lafayette Public Library System, Au Bayou Teche Bed and Breakfast,the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, KRVS, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Folkstreams, the Southern Humanities Media Fund, and the National Film Board of Canada-ONF.
Festival sponsors include Breaux's Mart, Zydeco Bars, Shadow Distribution, Marcello's Wine Market., Johnson's Boucaniere and Travel Lodge of Lafayette.
David Egan performs at closing party at Teche Theater in St. Martinville in 2008.
Film screenings at Pack and Paddle in 2008.
The 2007 festival's red carpet opening night screening of "Little Chenier" drew more than 700 in attendance, along with the film's director, screenwriter and several actors.
2007 Festival Film Scoring Panel: David Greely, Pat Mire, Dirk Powell and Sam Broussard.
Photos by Cinema on the Bayou 2006 official photographer Robin May. Click any to enlarge.
Panel discussion at Lafayette Natural History Museum. From left to right: Cajun folklorist Barry Ancelet and filmmakers Jean-Pierre Bruneau, Glen Pitre, Andre Gladu and Pat Mire. These four filmmakers are internationally recognized by the global film community as the primary film documenters of French-Louisiana culture, and Ancelet has served as research consultant with each of the directors at various times throughout the past 30 years.
Film screening at Cite des Arts