Capitol Park Museum presents a special FREE screening of Belizaire the Cajun with writer-director Glen Pitre in attendance. This landmark Louisiana film follows a resourceful Cajun healer caught in the middle of growing tensions in 19th-century south Louisiana, blending drama, history, and humor against the backdrop of the bayou.
After the film, stay for a conversation and audience Q&A with Glen Pitre about the making of Belizaire the Cajun, its depiction of Cajun culture, and its legacy in Louisiana filmmaking.
About Director Glen Pitre
When not aboard the family’s leaky shrimp boat, Glen Pitre grew up in the Cajun town of Cut Off, Louisiana, went to Harvard on scholarship, graduated with honors, then immediately scooted back down the bayou determined to make his living as a storyteller. By age 25, American Film magazine dubbed him “the father of Cajun cinema” as his low- budget, French dialect “gumbo westerns” broke house records in bayou country theaters. With the help of the Sundance Institute, his internationally-lauded Belizaire the Cajun became his first English-language movie. In the years since, he’s worked from Paris to Mumbai as writer, producer, and director of big screen dramas, cable thrillers, PBS documentaries, and IMAX films. His movies have featured Oscar and Emmy winning actors, played in theaters and on TV worldwide, been lauded at festivals such as Sundance and Cannes, and prompted famous film critic Roger Ebert to call Pitre “a legendary American regional director.”
Pitre’s other works include novels and non-fiction books, museum exhibits and sacred space design, multi-screen video installations and immersive experiences, still photography, radio programming, professional theater, on-stage storytelling… to name a few. Over his career Pitre has won countless awards including an honorary doctorate, a humanities lifetime achievement, and a knighthood from France, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
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