The feature-length documentary, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT explores the complex relationships, rituals, history, and music of New Orleans’ vibrant Mardi Gras Indian culture while telling the story of Allison “Tootie” Montana, former Chief of Yellow Pocahontas Hunters. Celebrated throughout the New Orleans as “the prettiest,” for the beauty and inventiveness of his elaborately beaded Mardi Gras costumes, Tootie Montana masked for 52 years, longer than any other Mardi Gras Indian. Yet Tootie Montana’s contributions to Mardi Gras Indian culture far exceed his artistic innovations and dedication. Through the example of his own achievement, he came to be revered for turning Mardi Gras Indians away from gang-style violence toward artistic accomplishment and competition. In the aftermath of Katrina, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT bears witness to the Mardi Gras Indians who, in picking up the threads of their torn lives and tradition, are the spiritual healers of New Orleans.
A documentary on Soca legend Machel Montano featuring his grueling 16 shows in 7 days during Carnival 2015, tracing his rise from child prodigy to the "Michael Jackson of the Caribbean.
In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.
A feature-length documentary about the famous Quebec Winter Carnival beauty pageant of 1975. Each year, seven beauties are carefully selected: a queen and six duchesses. A dream that many a young girl has cherished and lived... or experienced firsthand. They will have entered a competition marked by several stages. A tailor-made demeanor will have been demanded of them, one that has taken many hours to shape. The overall impression the viewer gets is captivating: the backstage of the Carnival is opened to an honest, yet wonderfully biased, camera.
Samba on Your Feet explores the shared roots of Carnival and Samba in Brazil and how they’ve come together to form a unique and vibrant culture. The journey begins behind the scenes of Rio de Janeiro’s Samba schools. Here, we witness the hard work and dedication of choreographers, dancers, musicians, and costume makers coming together in the spirit of teamwork and collaboration to create a spectacle that celebrates the infectious rhythms of Samba. The camera of Montes-Bradley also explores nearby favelas, where the audience discovers more links between Carnival and Samba and learns about the cultural history linking both to common African traditions. Cultural historian Haroldo Costa is our host on this pilgrimage to the roots, illuminating the importance of Samba in Brazilian culture and explaining its influences on Carnival.
GlitterBomb is a fantastic 32-minute documentary that showcases the best of the 2015 Mardi Gras season. It features interviews with Courtney Act, Bianca Del Rio, Nick Jonas, Alex Greenwich, Dan Murphy and Jake Shears, as well as local identities and international tourists, each sharing their experiences and perspectives on our fabulous Festival celebrations including Harbour Party, Pool Party, Parade and MG Party.
Corrientes carnival, polyform joy in the subtropical night, the renewed rite is fulfilled once again. Cascades of lights, multicolored pyrotechnics, exalted rhythms, the old Momo extends its reign over the littoral city.
Why does everyone want to take part in the Rottweiler Narrensprung, even though the costumes are expensive, the wooden masks uncomfortable and the jesters' rules extremely strict? Can Swabian language tests and video surveillance save the famous Rottweiler Fasnacht from the onslaught of out-of-town jesters? Fool master Christoph has his doubts. But under no circumstances are women allowed to dress up as horses. Filmmakers Sigrun Köhler and Wiltrud Baier (Böller und Brot) spent over three years filming in Rottweil. With their humorous and affectionate view, they take the viewer into an unknown world: a great archaic celebration of life and death in the middle of highly industrialized Germany.
A cast of legendary New Orleans musicians share their Mardi Gras memories in an insider's look at some of the priceless traditions - off the beaten path for most tourists - that fuel the local Carnival spirit. Shot in New Orleans from 2001- 2003.
A beautifully done video of Burning Man 2001, 2002 & 2003. Lots of people interviews, Center Cafe activity and extensive coverage of artist David Best and the Temple construction and burn. This documentary captures the swirling columns of dust that were created during the intense heat of the 2002 Temple burn.
A film created by Les Blank and Maureen Gosling from footage that was cut from the documentary "Always for Pleasure" (1978) about Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
The last days of summer captured on 16mm.
Short film about the carnival activities in Mainz, Germany.
The experience shared by four first-timers demonstrates how Burning Man dissolves the barriers between races, nationalities and economic classes. A beautiful piece of film-making which inspires and entertains as it provides some understanding about why people return year after year.
Corona shut everything down. Including Carnival. Filmmaker Frank van Osch from Den Bosch searches for the soul of this beautiful folk festival. Distinctive and seasoned carnival revelers talk about the deep-rooted spirit of the festival and the tears they shed when Carnival was canceled in 2021. The sadness of Carnival is about life, with laughter and tears, as reflected in Carnival, in the year it couldn't take place. This documentary is an ode to the most unique folk festival in the South.
See the Billy Rose's Aquacade, Nature’s Mistakes, the Midget City! Watch Gulli-Gulli King of Magic and the Wonder-Mouse Pitchman!
Festive Land examines one of the largest and most extraordinary popular celebrations in the world, the week-long Carnival that brings more than two million people to the streets of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Carnival is the most expressive showcase of the unique cultural richness of Bahia, where African culture has survived, prospered, and evolved, mixing with other Brazilian influences to create forms found nowhere else in the world. The film captures this unique cultural energy through extraordinary footage of musical performances, dances, religious manifestations, and street celebrations. At the same time, Carnival reflects the racial and social tensions of Brazil's heterogeneous society. At first glance there appear to be two million people chaotically mixed on the streets, but a more detailed look reveals how patterns of segregation driven by racial, social and economic differences continue in Carnival.
When radio host Milla (Katrin Bauerfeind) tells Sharronda, a listener to her new Break-up Show, live that her boyfriend Mufti doesn't want anything more to do with her, Sharronda (Alina Levshin) runs amok, raids the flower shop she used to work in, takes her ex-boss hostage and threatens to kill herself. To calm the situation, psychologist Lisa (Barbara Auer) disguises herself as a chemist and goes to the flower shop with the ransom money, only to learn from Sharronda that her brothers are right-wing radicals. Might they have forced her boyfriend to split up with her? A brand-new episode of Lars Becker's hit series.
A musical portrait of New Orleans' street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo in 1977: second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. This glorious, soul-satisfying film is among Blank's special masterworks. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.
Documentary short that explores the meaning of the locals’ African identity through the Carnival festivities.