Paying tribute to the legends who have helped define the traditions of a city’s culture is a vital part of honoring and maintaining that area’s heritage. This month’s New Orleans Film Festival did just that with the red carpet it presented during the Closing Night celebration of in-person screenings.

Held at the New Orleans Jazz Market this past Tuesday, November 8, the red carpet event featured arrivals from filmmakers, musicians and celebrities connected with the new documentary, ‘Music Pictures: New Orleans.’ VIPs in attendance included the movie’s director-editor, Ben Chace, as well as New Orleans legend Irma Thomas and Marley Marsalis, the granddaughter of Ellis Marsalis, who’s featured in the film.

‘Music Pictures: New Orleans’ offers portraits into four of New Orleans’ legacy music figures, including Thomas, Little Freddie King, Ellis Marsalis (who died on April 1, 2020, shortly after he finished shooting his footage for the documentary) and the Tremé Brass Band. Now in their 80s, the local masters continue their practice, for the love of the music, in the city that made them who they are.

The New Orleans Film Festival’s Closing Night of in-person screenings, including the red carpet and screening of ‘Music Pictures: New Orleans,’ was sponsored by The Historic New Orleans Collection, Recording Academy, The Dan Lucas Memorial Fund, New Orleans Jazz Museum, ABS Productions, Positive Vibrations Foundation and Fisher Foundation.

Check out the photos we took while attending the red carpet before the screening of ‘Music Pictures: New Orleans’ during the New Orleans Film Festival’s Closing Night celebration of in-person screenings.

By Karen Benardello

As a graduate of LIU Post with a B.F.A in Journalism, Print and Electronic, Karen Benardello serves as ShockYa's Senior Movies & Television Editor. Her duties include interviewing filmmakers and musicians, and scribing movie, television and music reviews and news articles. As a New York City-area based journalist, she's a member of the guilds, New York Film Critics Online and the Women Film Critics Circle.

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