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Photo by Henry Adebonojo

Oct 15, 2019 By Zach Hollwedel NOFF2019

The 30^thAnnual New Orleans Film Festival opens tomorrow. It’s only fitting that, in a city renowned for its influence on global music, NOFF 2019 has big plans to celebrate music in cinema.

This year marks the launch of the Fest’s Music Initiative Program. For 80 Louisiana musicians, the Initiative will afford them an opportunity to make valuable connections in the film industry. Musicians in the Initiative will attend a session on how best to pitch their work, participate in a workshop for composers, and will be able to watch a panel discussion on the role of music supervisors. Finally, they’ll have the chance to pitch their art to music supervisors currently working in film and TV. Throughout the week, and perhaps just as exciting, a handful of Music Initiative Program participants will also be featured at various Festival parties.

Directed and co-written by Kasi Lemmons, the Festival’s closing night film Harriet, follows the life of escaped slave and famed abolitionist, Harriet Tubman. Academy Award-nominated composer Terence Blanchard, who previous credits include BlacKkKlansman, Chi-Raq, and Inside Man, among many others, composed the music for Harriet. New Orleans-born Blanchard will be in attendance closing night to accept the Career Achievement Award, with which he is being presented. He also appears earlier during the festival as host of Up From the Streets: New Orleans: The City of Music, a documentary that explores the culture and music of the Big Easy.

In addition to Up From the Streets, two other music documentary features screen at the Fest. Singular, directed by Dennis Scholl and Marlon Johnson, chronicles the life and accomplishments of Cecile Mclorin Salvant. A Haitian-American Jazz singer, McLorin Salvant was the first prize winner at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010. From Lisa Cortés and Farah X, The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashionexamines the influence hip-hop had on fashion. Throughout the festival, blocks of experimental shorts, Louisiana shorts, and curated music videos all offer additional musical journeys. And for even more, attendees can explore any number of the hundreds of music venues scattered around the city.