Tim Watson

Bayou Maharajah explores the life and music of New Orleans piano legend James Booker, the man Dr. John described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." A brilliant pianist, his eccentricities and showmanship belied a life of struggle, prejudice, and isolation. Illustrated with never-before-seen concert footage, rare personal photos and exclusive interviews, the film paints a portrait of this overlooked genius.

Tells the story of New Orleans's black aristocracy as seen through the eyes of an African American debutante and her matriarchal family. This poignant coming of age story opens a lens to the wider struggle of black New Orleans's to shape an upper class society during the rise of the Jim Crow south.

Every jazz funeral is a drama, a freeze-frame of the city. The marching band leads the procession of grief to the slow dirges, sorrow songs, and after burial the jazzmen kick into up tempo parade anthems, the soul’s “cutting loose” for the second line of dazzling street dancers.

New Orleans filmmaker Rebecca Snedeker explores the insular world of the elite, white Carnival societies and debutante balls of Mardi Gras. Questioning their racial exclusivity, she takes an unprecedented insider's look at the pageantry and asks: what does it mean to be the queen of the masked men? As she examines her own place in an alluring tradition, Snedeker challenges viewers to reflect on the roles we all play in our lives. Ideal for courses in gender studies, sociology, anthropology, american studies, multicultural studies, southern history and psychology.