Light. Camera. New Orleans!

NOLA. A multirracial city with a cinematographic catalog ranging from film, animation to series.

How about checking out some of the productions that were recorded or inspired by New Orleans? So let’s go there... LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION!

New Orleans

Release: 1947

Plot: Wealthy Nick Duquesne owns a characteristically black bar, where the nights are filled with lots of bourbon and jazz, with Billle Holiday and Louis Armstrong and their band, playing until dawn – and where the whites of American Southern society definitely don’t like to be. When he falls in love with singer and socialite Miralle Smith, also a newcomer to black culture, Nick realizes that the only way to win the young woman’s love and admiration is to confront society’s prejudice and launch jazz as music for all ages, races and stages.

JFK

Release: 1991

Plot: New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison is not convinced by the Warren Commission’s final ruling, stating that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a single person. To prove that the commission was wrong, the lawyer decides to investigate the existence of a conspiracy responsible for the death of the politician.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

Release: 1994

Plot: Accidentally, a reporter starts a conversation with a man who claims to be a two-hundred-year-old vampire and tells the story of his life, from the time he was not yet a vampire and how he was bitten by the vampire Lestat, with whom he had great adventures, but also big disagreements.

The Princess and the Frog

Release: 2009

Plot: Tiana is a beautiful young woman who lives in New Orleans. Since she was a child, she has dreamed of having her own restaurant, which means she has two jobs and saves as much money as possible. To get the necessary amount so that she can finally rent the property of her dreams, she accepts to work at a party held by Charlotte LaBouff, her childhood friend. Charlotte wants to win over Prince Naveen, who has just arrived in town. However, an incident causes Tiana to change clothes and, in Charlotte’s room, wear one of her dresses. That’s when a frog appears, proclaiming to be a prince and asking Tiana to grant him a kiss, so that the spell applied to him is broken. At first Tiana finds the idea repugnant, but accepts it when she receives the prince’s promise that he will get her the necessary amount to pay the rent. But then when she kisses him, instead of him becoming human again, it is Tiana who turns into a frog!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Release: 2009

Plot: New Orleans, 1918. Benjamin Button was born unusually, with the appearance and ailments of a person in his eighties despite being a baby. Instead of aging over time, Button rejuvenates. When still a child, he meets Daisy, the same age as him, with whom he falls in love. He has to wait for Daisy to grow up and become a woman, and for him to rejuvenate enough so that, when they are similar in age, they can finally get involved.

Treme

Release: 2010 - 2013

Plot: The series follows a group of diverse people in Louisiana three months after Hurricane Katrina. While most former New Orleans residents left for Baton Rouge or Houston, many stayed in Treme, and are trying to rebuild their lives. From chefs to musicians, each character has an exciting story to tell.

NCIS: New Orleans

Release: 2014 - 2021

Plot: Drama about criminal investigations in the city known for its music, entertainment and decadence.

The Big Short

Release: 2016

Plot: Michael Burry is the owner of a medium-sized company, who decides to invest a lot of money from the fund he coordinates by betting that the real estate system in the United States will break down soon. Such a decision creates complications for investors, since never before has anyone bet against the system and taken advantage. Upon learning about these investments, broker Jared Vennet sees the opportunity and starts to offer it to his clients. One of them is Mark Baum, the owner of a brokerage firm who has been facing personal problems since his brother committed suicide. At the same time, two beginners on the Stock Exchange realize that they can make a lot of money by betting on the real estate crisis and, to do so, ask for help from a Wall Street guru, Ben Rickert, who lives in reclusion.

In addition to scenes recorded in New York, the film features New Orleans as one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, Argiers with its colorful houses and the Mississippi River.

Girls Trip

Release: 2017

Plot: Four lifelong friends set out on a fun-seeking journey through New Orleans to attend the city’s biggest annual festivities, the Essence Festival. There, the intimacy is revived and everyone gets closer again with animation. At the same time, the wild side of some comes out, and the experience could change everyone’s lives forever.