TCHOUPITOULAS

“This is everything I hoped for! Naked pictures, clubs, you know what I mean?” The Zanders brothers, from youngest to oldest, William, Bryan and Kentrell, inject a dose of youthful excitement into this dreamlike urban symphony. For a whole night, they wander around New Orleans’ French Quarter before crossing back over the Mississippi in the early hours of the morning. Filmed over nine months but edited as if shot in a single evening, this filmic stroll (named after a street) captivates us with the succession of glittering street entertainers one typically meets in this out-of-the-ordinary city (musicians, dancers, clowns, Mardi Gras bands, “career” drunks…), but also with the immersive effect induced by the framing, editing and mixing. In one disquieting but magical sequence, the filmmaker – cameramen (also brothers) appear to discreetly spur the boys into exploring a disused riverboat. The ever-present water and the work on the Zanders’ voice-overs is somewhat reminiscent of Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, but the many milestones on their itinerary – brothel, preachers, home port… – also creates a link with great fiction cinema. (Charlotte Garson)