Collection:LPB

Genre: Documentary

Place Covered: Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2008-03-5

Duration: 00:26:20

Subjects: Film Industry | Flaherty, Robert Joseph, 1884-1951 | Cajun culture | OIL INDUSTRY

Contributors:

• Doucet, Michael Narrator
• Laudun, Tika Producer
• Richard, C.E. Producer
• Rombout, Rob Interviewee
• Leacock, Richard Interviewee
• Ruby, Jay Interviewee
• Faulk, Clarence Interviewee
• Ancelet, Barry Interviewee
• Boudreaux, J.C. Interviewee
• Guirard, Greg Interviewee
• Laudun, John Interviewee
• Fortenberry, Rex Q. Photographer
• Crews, Keith Photographer
• Laudun, Tika Director
• Laudun, Tika Editor

This documentary from March 5, 2008, explores the legacy of the 1948 film “Louisiana Story” directed by Robert Flaherty and funded by the Standard Oil Company. The film follows the life of a young Cajun boy, played by J.C. Boudreaux, in the bayous of south Louisiana and the implications of his father’s decision to allow an oil company to drill near their home. This documentary touches on: the career of Robert Flaherty, including his work on “Nanook of the North” and his distinction as the “father of documentary filmmaking”; the film’s cast and crew; the 14-month filming process in Abbeville, Louisiana; the film’s portrayal of Cajun culture; the impact of the oil industry on the Americanization of the Cajuns; and star J.C. Boudreaux’s life after the film. It includes interviews with: Rob Rombout, a filmmaker and professor at the Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design; Richard Leacock, the associate producer and cinematographer on “Louisiana Story”; Jay Ruby, a visual anthropologist and professor emeritus at Temple University; Clarence Faulk, a production assistant on “Louisiana Story”; Dr. Barry Ancelet, a folklorist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL); J.C. Boudreaux, the star of “Louisiana Story”; Greg Guirard, a photographer, writer, and Louisiana fisherman; and John Laudun, a folklorist at ULL. Narrator: Michael Doucet