-
48 HOURS: THE WHOLE GRITTY CITY has been honored with the Christopher Award
Hosted by Wynton Marsalis, this poignant, feature length documentary is about the transformative power of music. It goes behind the scenes with three dedicated New Orleans marching band directors working to prepare students to march in Mardi Gras parades. But they accomplish much more as their students experience significant personal growth from being required to exhibit camaraderie, discipline, and endurance. Keep reading »
-
Wynton featured in the Tootie’s Last Suit
Wynton Marsalis and Dr. John are among the subjects interviewed in “Tootie’s Last Suit: A Portrait of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indian Culture,” which screens Thursday through May 6 as part of the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York.
Keep reading » -
Saving America’s Soul Kitchen
Now the levee breach has been fixed. The people have been evacuated. Army Corps of Engineers magicians will pump the city dry, and the slow (but quicker than we think) job of rebuilding will begin. Then there will be no 24-hour news coverage. The spin doctors’ narrative will create a wall of illusion thicker than the new levees. The job of turning our national disaster into sound-bite-size commercials with somber string music will be left to TV. The story will be sanitized as our nation’s politicians congratulate themselves on a job well done. Americans of all stripes will demonstrate saintly concern for one another. It’s what we do in a crisis.
Keep reading »