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Louisiana on Film: A Guide

Film, television, and documentaries with a Louisiana connection on DVD in the Music & Media Center of Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.

Welcome!

This guide is a maintained list of DVDs that have been acquired since 2010 for Howard-Tilton Memorial Library's Media Services and are in some way attached to Louisiana.  The titles presented here do not reflect our entire holdings, additional titles may be found by searching the catalog for videorecordings using the search term "Louisiana."  If you have any questions or are having trouble finding something specific, please feel free to contact us so that we can assist in your search or place a request for the media you need.

Cover image from DVD; man's face superimposed over taxi cab and skyline of New Orleans

The King of New Orleans

Larry Shirt is a taxi driver whose passengers are the city's hustlers, tourist, socialites, musicians, housekeepers, weirdoes and reporters. Bobby Cohn, a college student home from school and in the middle of a personal crisis, is one of those passengers. The circumstances that bring them together lead to a bond that is ultimately turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina, but instilled by the love of the city that they both call home.

theatrical poster for the film The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and The Frog

  • Set in 1920s New Orleans, Louisiana, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of owning her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late.

DVD cover image from Criterion edition of the film Always for Pleasure

Always for Pleasure

Part 1 captures the music, food, and street celebrations that typify New Orleans.

Part 2 focuses on the annual revival of Black Indian social and cultural traditions, featuring the Wild Tchoupitoulas and other Black Indian tribes as they prepare for and celebrate Mardi Gras. 

Also available via Kanopy streaming

The Wacky World of Doctor Morgus

A strange, crazy story of weird people in the unconventional city of New Orleans.

theatrical poster for the film The Sons of Tennessee Williams

The Sons of Tennessee Williams

Tells the story of the gay men of New Orleans who created a vast culture of public "drag balls" that predates established gay liberation history in the U.S. by nearly ten years. 

Also available via Kanopy streaming

theatrical poster for the movie King Creole

King Creole

A New Orleans teenager struggles to graduate from high school while working at a sleazy French Quarter club to support his family. 

theatrical poster for the film If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise

If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise

This follow-up to director Spike Lee's documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, focuses on the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, five years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

poster image for Don't Eat the Baby: Adventures at Post-Katrina Mardi Gras

Don't Eat the Baby: Adventures at Post-Katrina Mardi Gras

Examines the social, political, and economic context of Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2006, the first after Hurricane Katrina.

title card image from the HBO show Treme

Treme: The Complete First Season

Amid the ruins of New Orleans, ordinary people--musicians, chefs, residents--find themselves clinging to a unique culture and wondering if the city that gave birth to that culture still has a future.

Louisiana: 200 Years of Statehood

Two hundred years ago, Louisiana was joined to the United States, forever changing both. Our home is unlike any other place in the country, our people unlike any other Americans. And, in the two centuries of history that have unfolded since becoming an American state, we find powerful drama, unforgettable characters and astonishing beauty. Throughout the world, Louisianans are known for their celebratory spirit. And two hundred years of statehood gives us much to celebrate! Join narrator Harry Connick, Jr. in this story of our home, Louisiana.

I'm Carolyn Parker

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Jonathan Demme, I'M CAROLYN PARKER is an inspiring portrait of an extraordinary woman.

Carolyn Parker was the last to leave her neighborhood when Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans in the summer of 2005. After the floodwaters subsided, she was the first resident to return to her now flood-devastated community with what many thought was the "impossible dream" of bringing her ruined home back to life.

Louisiana (The Other Side)

In an invisible territory at the margins of society lives a wounded community who face the threat of being forgotten by political institutions and having their rights as citizens trampled through this hidden pocket of humanity, renowned documentarian Robert Minervini opens a window to the abyss of today's America

LA Film Lagniappe

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