Filmmaker Jonathan Demme and Author Daniel Wolff have spent the last eight years documenting post-Katrina New Orleans. They will present New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward at The Theater at 500 First Street. Proceeds support the Oxbow School Scholarship Fund.
Jonathan Demme is among Hollywood’s first rank of filmmakers, with credits that include Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, Beloved, The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won an Oscar, and a trilogy of Neil Young documentaries. Tackling challenging and controversial subjects, he’s directed eight different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Demme is also an activist, whose concern is reflected in such projects as Artists for Democracy in Haiti, the documentary New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward on post-Katrina residents of New Orleans and its follow-up, the portrait documentary I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful.
Daniel Wolff is an accomplished talent as an author, poet and filmmaker. His writing has appeared in numerous diverse publications, ranging from Vogue to Education Weekly, and his non-fiction books include How Lincoln Learned to Read and an award-winning and best-selling biography of crooner Sam Cooke. He’s also received credits on such documentaries as The Agronomist, about slain Haitian civil rights leader Jean Dominique, and several projects on post-Katrina New Orleans, including I’m Carolyn Parker—the catalyst for his look at the lives of everyday American heroes in his text, The Fight for Home.
Cocktails & Screening with Jonathan & Daniel $125
New Orleans feast with Jonathan & Daniel $500 (seating is limited)