The 13th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival selected 180 films, including World, U.S. and Louisiana Premieres, from around the world to be screened at venues in and around Lafayette, Louisiana during the annual eight-day Festival held on January 24-31, 2018.
The Festival opened on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, at 6:30 pm at Acadiana Center for the Arts with the World Premiere screening of "Rifles & Rosary Beads," a short documentary about the power of turning trauma into art. The film chronicles the making of an album by folk singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier and combat veterans and their spouses at SongwritingWith:Soldiers retreats.
Following the film, Ms. Gauthier, a Louisiana native based in Nashville, performed songs from the album, which includes eleven deeply personal songs revealing the untold stories and powerful struggles that these veterans and their spouses deal with abroad and after returning home. The album debuted on January 26, 2018. The Los Angeles Times has said about Ms. Gauthier: ". . . her razor-sharp eye for detail and her commitment to unsentimental self-reflection puts her in a class with greats such as Kris Kristofferson, John Prin and yes, Bob Dylan."
A gala reception followed. Nashville-based filmmakers (also musicians), Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard, who are Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival alums ("The Orphan Brigade") were also in attendance and performed with Ms. Gauthier. The film was awarded the Festival's Inspiration Award.