Brent Joseph

Lebanese author, Raif Shwayri, travels to Louisiana to trace the life of his grandfather who once worked as a peddler serving the Cajuns on Bayou Lafourche. Alfred “Sweet Papa” Nicola spent nearly two decades, in the early 20th century, selling his wares to the French-speaking melting pot that was developing on the edge of civilization. His years of traveling to these isolated villages would eventually, and surprisingly, lead to substantial aid for tens of thousands of disabled and impoverished children in Lebanon. This film celebrates the rarely told story of early Arab-American immigrants and includes never-before-seen 16mm footage of South Louisiana and Beirut from the 1950s. It also includes rare photos of early Cajun life as well as an original Arabic score and a cover of a Cajun classic using Arabic instruments.

A nameless scavenger finds a body in the swamp. Moss is set on fire. The horror of being alive leads to a loving embrace. We might be seeing the beginning of a new life or perhaps a nightmare that endlessly repeats itself. Starring Paul Soileau (aka Christeene, Rebecca Havemeyer) & Llywyn Máire. This dark fairy tale was filmed in glorious 16mm, in the late 1990s, and then remastered, with an original score by Curtis Heath, in 2019.

72-year-old Louis Harding returns to gut and rebuild the community center he opened one month before Hurricane Katrina struck. He discusses the importance of history, heroes and self-esteem for African-Americans in New Orleans and explains why re-opening his center after the storm is more important than ever before.

Filmed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Holdout is a portrait of a New Orleanian set against the helicopters and gunshots of a vacant Crescent City. Jimmy is a Mid-City resident who refused to evacuate for the storm. Despite being surrounded by floodwaters for two weeks, he insisted on staying home to take care of his eighteen pets. Shot on the one-year anniversary of the passing of his life long boyfriend, Harry, the film offers a glimpse into the ties that keep New Orleanians together. With engaging candor, Jimmy discusses his survival and shares a view of death that has characterized the city for centuries.

In a distant galaxy, traveling carnivals feature famous mystics. The most popular of all is The Great Bazandini. Villagers clamor to see his act, but one person knows it’s a sham...his daughter, Mirza. She desperately wants to escape this world of swindlers, but standing in her way is the carnival’s ringleader, notorious conman, Dr. Leopold Rundy. MIRZA THE MIRACULOUS is a short lo-fi sci-fi experimental B-movie adventure incorporating dubbed gibberish voices, abstract art, remnants of Mardi Gras costumes, toy props, dustbuster spaceships, on-screen text and analog electronic music. It’s absurd, kaleidoscopic and homemade. The movie was originally shot on an abandoned Western movie set on the Texas-Mexican border in 1999, but was abandoned due to technical difficulties. 15 years later, the project was revived by a successful Kickstarter fund-raising campaign. The original footage was reimagined and re-edited with new technology to create a one-of-a-kind film.

Lebanese author, Raif Shwayri, travels to Louisiana to trace the life of his grandfather who once worked as a peddler serving the Cajuns on Bayou Lafourche. Alfred “Sweet Papa” Nicola spent nearly two decades, in the early 20th century, selling his wares to the French-speaking melting pot that was developing on the edge of civilization. His years of traveling to these isolated villages would eventually, and surprisingly, lead to substantial aid for tens of thousands of disabled and impoverished children in Lebanon. This film celebrates the rarely told story of early Arab-American immigrants and includes never-before-seen 16mm footage of South Louisiana and Beirut from the 1950s. It also includes rare photos of early Cajun life as well as an original Arabic score and a cover of a Cajun classic using Arabic instruments.

Lebanese author, Raif Shwayri, travels to Louisiana to trace the life of his grandfather who once worked as a peddler serving the Cajuns on Bayou Lafourche. Alfred “Sweet Papa” Nicola spent nearly two decades, in the early 20th century, selling his wares to the French-speaking melting pot that was developing on the edge of civilization. His years of traveling to these isolated villages would eventually, and surprisingly, lead to substantial aid for tens of thousands of disabled and impoverished children in Lebanon. This film celebrates the rarely told story of early Arab-American immigrants and includes never-before-seen 16mm footage of South Louisiana and Beirut from the 1950s. It also includes rare photos of early Cajun life as well as an original Arabic score and a cover of a Cajun classic using Arabic instruments.

A nameless scavenger finds a body in the swamp. Moss is set on fire. The horror of being alive leads to a loving embrace. We might be seeing the beginning of a new life or perhaps a nightmare that endlessly repeats itself. Starring Paul Soileau (aka Christeene, Rebecca Havemeyer) & Llywyn Máire. This dark fairy tale was filmed in glorious 16mm, in the late 1990s, and then remastered, with an original score by Curtis Heath, in 2019.

72-year-old Louis Harding returns to gut and rebuild the community center he opened one month before Hurricane Katrina struck. He discusses the importance of history, heroes and self-esteem for African-Americans in New Orleans and explains why re-opening his center after the storm is more important than ever before.

Filmed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Holdout is a portrait of a New Orleanian set against the helicopters and gunshots of a vacant Crescent City. Jimmy is a Mid-City resident who refused to evacuate for the storm. Despite being surrounded by floodwaters for two weeks, he insisted on staying home to take care of his eighteen pets. Shot on the one-year anniversary of the passing of his life long boyfriend, Harry, the film offers a glimpse into the ties that keep New Orleanians together. With engaging candor, Jimmy discusses his survival and shares a view of death that has characterized the city for centuries.

In a distant galaxy, traveling carnivals feature famous mystics. The most popular of all is The Great Bazandini. Villagers clamor to see his act, but one person knows it’s a sham...his daughter, Mirza. She desperately wants to escape this world of swindlers, but standing in her way is the carnival’s ringleader, notorious conman, Dr. Leopold Rundy. MIRZA THE MIRACULOUS is a short lo-fi sci-fi experimental B-movie adventure incorporating dubbed gibberish voices, abstract art, remnants of Mardi Gras costumes, toy props, dustbuster spaceships, on-screen text and analog electronic music. It’s absurd, kaleidoscopic and homemade. The movie was originally shot on an abandoned Western movie set on the Texas-Mexican border in 1999, but was abandoned due to technical difficulties. 15 years later, the project was revived by a successful Kickstarter fund-raising campaign. The original footage was reimagined and re-edited with new technology to create a one-of-a-kind film.

In a distant galaxy, traveling carnivals feature famous mystics. The most popular of all is The Great Bazandini. Villagers clamor to see his act, but one person knows it’s a sham...his daughter, Mirza. She desperately wants to escape this world of swindlers, but standing in her way is the carnival’s ringleader, notorious conman, Dr. Leopold Rundy. MIRZA THE MIRACULOUS is a short lo-fi sci-fi experimental B-movie adventure incorporating dubbed gibberish voices, abstract art, remnants of Mardi Gras costumes, toy props, dustbuster spaceships, on-screen text and analog electronic music. It’s absurd, kaleidoscopic and homemade. The movie was originally shot on an abandoned Western movie set on the Texas-Mexican border in 1999, but was abandoned due to technical difficulties. 15 years later, the project was revived by a successful Kickstarter fund-raising campaign. The original footage was reimagined and re-edited with new technology to create a one-of-a-kind film.