New Orleans Film Festival opens with Woody Harrelson’s “LBJ”

PanARMENIAN.Net - NOFF is bookended by two high-profile films. It opens with Rob Reiner’s “LBJ”, which will screen at the Orpheum Theater. After the screening, Reiner will receive a Career Achievement award from “LBJ” star Woody Harrelson, Variety reports.

Following the screening and award presentation, audiences will form a traditional second-line parade, marching through city streets from the Orpheum Theater to the opening night party at Palace Café, the flagship restaurant of Dickie Brennan & Co. renowned for its contemporary Creole cuisine.

Closing the festival, on Oct. 20, is a 25th anniversary showing of the re-mastered historic feature “Daughters of the Dust.” After the screening director Julie Dash will receive a career achievement award.

On Oct. 14, NOFF will host the world premiere gala screening of “Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table,” from director Leslie Iwerks, and narrated by actress Patricia Clarkson. The documentary tells the story of the restaurateur credited with bringing Creole cuisine to the American mainstream and pioneering the idea of the celebrity chef.

Other highlights: screenings of “Moonlight,” “Lion,” and “Manchester by the Sea”; and several world premieres, including the doc feature “Shelter,” about New Orleans’ own Covenant House; “Hara Kiri,” about a soul-bonded pair of skater-boys who roll off across L.A. on the last day of their lives; and “Fugue,” the new film from NOFF mainstay Jorge Torres-Torres.