Last of a London Summer

The last days of summer captured on 16mm.

Der Karneval zu Mainz 1908

Short film about the carnival activities in Mainz, Germany.

The Order of Myths

In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.

Machel Montano: Journey of a Soca King

With a lifelong mission to put soca music on the international map, Machel Montano has pioneered the evolution of the genre throughout his 34-year career.

Tootie's Last Suit

The feature-length documentary, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT explores the complex relationships, rituals, history, and music of New Orleans’ vibrant Mardi Gras Indian culture while telling the story of Allison “Tootie” Montana, former Chief of Yellow Pocahontas Hunters. Celebrated throughout the New Orleans as “the prettiest,” for the beauty and inventiveness of his elaborately beaded Mardi Gras costumes, Tootie Montana masked for 52 years, longer than any other Mardi Gras Indian. Yet Tootie Montana’s contributions to Mardi Gras Indian culture far exceed his artistic innovations and dedication. Through the example of his own achievement, he came to be revered for turning Mardi Gras Indians away from gang-style violence toward artistic accomplishment and competition. In the aftermath of Katrina, TOOTIE’S LAST SUIT bears witness to the Mardi Gras Indians who, in picking up the threads of their torn lives and tradition, are the spiritual healers of New Orleans.

Le soleil a pas d'chance

Confessions of a Burning Man

The experience shared by four first-timers demonstrates how Burning Man dissolves the barriers between races, nationalities and economic classes. A beautiful piece of film-making which inspires and entertains as it provides some understanding about why people return year after year.

Pwllheli Carnival

Weird and wonderful characters entertain the crowds in this summer's day procession at Pwllheli, Gwynedd.

Lagniappe

A film created by Les Blank and Maureen Gosling from footage that was cut from the documentary "Always for Pleasure" (1978) about Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Corrientes, capital of the Argentine carnival

Corrientes carnival, polyform joy in the subtropical night, the renewed rite is fulfilled once again. Cascades of lights, multicolored pyrotechnics, exalted rhythms, the old Momo extends its reign over the littoral city.

Dust Devils

A beautifully done video of Burning Man 2001, 2002 & 2003. Lots of people interviews, Center Cafe activity and extensive coverage of artist David Best and the Temple construction and burn. This documentary captures the swirling columns of dust that were created during the intense heat of the 2002 Temple burn.

Alaaf - 200 Jahre Kölner Karneval

200 years of Cologne Carnival! The most colourful and loudest festival in Cologne celebrates a big birthday. In February 1823, a few men from Cologne's upper class founded the so-called 'Festordnende Komitee' - the forerunner of today's 'Festkomitee Kölner Karneval'. This 'big bang' was a reaction to the old festival getting out of hand in orgies and violence. Carnival was in danger. A ban by the Prussian rulers was imminent. The new committee wanted to control the wild goings-on, establish rules and organise the celebrations.

Harrow Hospital Carnival

Harrow’s extraordinary and opulent pageant, and seaside holidays on the south coast.

Dulais Valley

Master baker, owner of Duffryn Bakery, Onllwyn, turns his hand to film-making and captures community events in glorious colour.

Carnival in Bissau

Documentary short that explores the meaning of the locals’ African identity through the Carnival festivities.

Festive Land: Carnival in Bahia

Festive Land examines one of the largest and most extraordinary popular celebrations in the world, the week-long Carnival that brings more than two million people to the streets of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Carnival is the most expressive showcase of the unique cultural richness of Bahia, where African culture has survived, prospered, and evolved, mixing with other Brazilian influences to create forms found nowhere else in the world. The film captures this unique cultural energy through extraordinary footage of musical performances, dances, religious manifestations, and street celebrations. At the same time, Carnival reflects the racial and social tensions of Brazil's heterogeneous society. At first glance there appear to be two million people chaotically mixed on the streets, but a more detailed look reveals how patterns of segregation driven by racial, social and economic differences continue in Carnival.

Always for Pleasure

An intense insider's portrait of New Orleans' street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo: Second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. This glorious, soul-satisfying film is among Blank's special masterworks. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

Farewell Ferris Wheel

Farewell Ferris Wheel explores how the U.S. Carnival industry fights to keep itself alive by legally employing Mexican migrant workers with the controversial H-2B guestworker visa.

Narren

Why does everyone want to take part in the Rottweiler Narrensprung, even though the costumes are expensive, the wooden masks uncomfortable and the jesters' rules extremely strict? Can Swabian language tests and video surveillance save the famous Rottweiler Fasnacht from the onslaught of out-of-town jesters? Fool master Christoph has his doubts. But under no circumstances are women allowed to dress up as horses. Filmmakers Sigrun Köhler and Wiltrud Baier (Böller und Brot) spent over three years filming in Rottweil. With their humorous and affectionate view, they take the viewer into an unknown world: a great archaic celebration of life and death in the middle of highly industrialized Germany.

Member of the Club

Tells the story of New Orleans's black aristocracy as seen through the eyes of an African American debutante and her matriarchal family. This poignant coming of age story opens a lens to the wider struggle of black New Orleans's to shape an upper class society during the rise of the Jim Crow south.