Experiences

 

Cajun Music Film "Masterpieces" by Les Blank

Les Blank, Ann Savoy, and Marc Savoy Attending

Saturday, March 27, 3:30 PM / Auditorium, Independence Hall, UACCB / $5 - $4 - $3

 

With the support of a major initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius, the Ozark Foothills FilmFesti is honored to present a multi-disciplinary cinema/live music experience. This special afternoon screening, with filmmaker and two of the film subjects in attendance, is followed by a live performance by the Savoy Family Cajun Band at 8:00 PM.

 

J'ai Été au Bal (I Went to the Dance)

 

Directors:  Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz

Run Time:  84 min

Year:  1989

Category:  Documentary Feature

 

 

 

J'AI ÉTÉ AU BAL begins as anthropology and becomes a celebration. It's about the roots of Cajun music as it evolved in southeast Louisiana after French Acadians, exiled from Nova Scotia, settled there in the middle of the 18th century. It's also about the roots of zydeco, which is primarily black American, and how the two forms of music have sometimes cross-fertilized each other and yet maintained their separate identities. . .

The cast of real-life characters is huge. Among them, Ann Allen Savoy, the wife of Marc Savoy and the author of CAJUN MUSIC: A REFLECTION OF A PEOPLE, which inspired the film; Dennis McGee, described as the dean of Cajun fiddlers; Clifton Chenier, described as "the undisputed king of zydeco"; "Queen Ida" Guillory, whose music combines zydeco with rock, country, reggae and Tex-Mex, and Jermaine Jack, who plays the washboard with bottle openers and spoons.  --Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Such an infectious film that it's hard to stay seated. A feast of folkloric scholarship, human history, regional color and irresistible music, an inspiring 'must-see' for anyone interested in American folkways or music.  --Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

Writers:  Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz (from the book CAJUN MUSIC: A REFLECTION OF A PEOPLE by Ann Savoy)

Editor: Maureen Gosling

 

Marc and Ann

 

Directors:  Les Blank, Maureen Gosling, Chris Simon

Run Time: 27 min

Year: 1991

Category:  Documentary Short

 

 

 

Legendary filmmaker Les Blank's documentary MARC AND ANN delves directly into the heart of Cajun country to portray a couple devoted to the preservation of Louisiana French cultrue in their personal, as well as public, lives. When Marc is not busy stirring a large pot of gumbo or taking his children on a canoe trip through the swamp, he can frequently be found creating one of his beautiful squeeze box/accordions, made out of plate hanger springs, tablecloth bellows, parts from commodes, and fine wood. The joy of Cajun music, its signature yelps and wails, filter through many of the kitchens, porches, and dance halls of the Savoy's Eunice, Louisiana community.

 

Les Blank

Les Blank has made more than 40 films and has been called "a master of movies about the American idiom" by Vincent Canby of The New York Times. His films have won awards throughout the world, have been selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for inclusion in The National Film Registry, and have been shown in major museum retrospectives.

 

 

 

FUNDED IN PART BY~

The National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.