Made in Louisiana – Great flicks from the Bayou State

225 asked Zack Godshall, director of the award-winning documentary Water Like Stone as well as Sundance selection Lord Byron (available now on Hulu, iTunes and other online outlets), to share with us his Top 10 favorite films made in his home state of Louisiana. Godshall explains each of his picks below. zackgodshall.com

Directed by Robert Flaherty
“Louisiana’s swamps and marshes as seen through the eyes of one of cinema’s greatest poets and innovators.”

Directed by Arnold Eagle
“Made by an associate of Robert Flaherty during the making of Louisiana Story, this film champions the artisanry of everyday life on the bayou.”

Directed by Les Blank
“Les Blank celebrates his subjects like few others do. Each of his documentaries is a joy. Here he examines the innovators of Cajun and Zydeco music.”

Directed by Steven Soderbergh
“Made in Baton Rouge by Soderbergh’s Baton Rouge collective of local collaborators, I saw this comedy in the old LSU Colonnade Theater in 2002, and it inspired me to make films in Louisiana.”

Directed by Glen Pitre
“The first and only film I’ve ever seen set in South Lafourche Parish made by one of its native sons. I saw this in Lafayette when it first premiered, and like Schizopolis, it motivated me to make films right here in Louisiana.”

Directed by Benh Zeitlin
“This is Benh Zeitlin’s short film that prefigured his Sundance-winning breakthrough Beasts of the Southern Wild. In 25 minutes, it packs as much of a punch as his Oscar-nominated feature.”

Directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin
“A documentary about a man who bicycles from Monroe to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras to visit the love of his life, Joan of Arc.”

Directed by Conni Castille
“A beautiful and enlightening documentary about Cajun and Creole horse culture.”

Directed by Bill and Turner Ross
“A genre-blending phantasmagoria set in downtown New Orleans, as seen through the eyes of three neophyte youths from Algiers.”

Directed by Lily Keber
“A documentary about James Booker. Period.”