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Director: Bill Ross, Turner Ross
COMING TO THE ATHENA ON FRIDAY, JAN. 4TH!
Three young brothers take a secret sunset journey across a river to a pleasure island that’s always been forbidden to them. As such, the narrative conceit of Tchoupitoulas is as timeless as a fairy tale. But through the eyes of our juvenile protagonists, we experience an impressionistic immersion into this beguiling kaleidoscope of dancers, musicians, hustlers, drag queens, and revelers that parade through the lamp-lit streets between Rampart and the river. While the kids can only glance at the glittery surface, the camera follows the melodies that emanate from these corridors to admit us to the cabarets, into the dark alleyways, next to the barflies, behind the curtains, and on the bandstand with the people who make this place their audience, their stage, their home.
“It is alive with the risk and curiosity of youth, and unapologetic in insisting that the pursuit of fun can be a profound and transformative experience.”-A.O. Scott, New York Times
“Tchoupitoulas” is a jewel-bright whoosh of a ride through nighttime New Orleans.”-Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times