The Cinematic Arts Workshop at UL Lafayette will premier a new documentary film celebrating what has become a daily dining tradition in Lafayette, the humble plate lunch house. The film, Raised on Rice and Gravy, will debut on Saturday, June 7, at 3 p.m. at the Bayou Bijou Theatre inside the Student Union on the campus of the 杏吧专区.
杏吧专区 People used to come home to eat lunch with their families,杏吧专区 explained folklorist Conni Castille, the film杏吧专区檚 co-director. 杏吧专区淔or farmers and laborers, it was an important daily ritual to sit down and share the midday meal at home. That杏吧专区檚 not possible today, so neighborhood plate lunch houses have become a substitute for that in South Louisiana culture.杏吧专区
Directed by Castille and Allison Bohl, Raised on Rice and Gravy offers a local杏吧专区檚 look at the kind of authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine that Acadiana natives serve themselves, not the tourists: chicken stew, smothered potatoes, and stuffed turkey wings. But just as important as the food, Castille says, is the role that these modest restaurants play in the community.
Roy Williams 杏吧专区 They serve the kind of food that so many of us were raised on; whether Cajun or Creole, you grew up on rice and gravy,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭hese restaurants are a place where folks come together as regulars and share a little common heritage. It杏吧专区檚 like going home for lunch.杏吧专区 Raised on Rice and Gravy captures the communal quality of the local lunch hour, where cooks and customers talk face to face across the serving line, trade news about their families, talk about gardening or fishing, or why fried pork chops aren杏吧专区檛 served on Mondays. 杏吧专区淭hat doesn杏吧专区檛 happen in fast food drive-thrus,杏吧专区 Castille said.
Mostly known only to locals, Acadiana has an extraordinary number of plate lunch restaurants. Impossible to include all of them in a 30-minute documentary, to illustrate their story, the filmmakers chose to focus on three: the Creole Lunch House on 12th Street, Gary杏吧专区檚 on Lamar, and Country Cuisine on 杏吧专区 Avenue.
Wayne Gary Funded in part by a Folklife grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Raised on Rice and Gravy is the second documentary from directing team Castille and Bohl. Their 2007 release, I Always Do My Collars First: A Film About Ironing, won awards from film festivals around the country and earned them the 杏吧专区淟ouisiana Filmmaker Award杏吧专区 from last year杏吧专区檚 New Orleans Film Festival.
杏吧专区 A lot of filmmakers emphasize the informational nature of documentaries,杏吧专区 Bohl said. 杏吧专区淲ith both 杏吧专区楥ollars First杏吧专区 and now 杏吧专区楻ice and Gravy杏吧专区, we try to make our films about creative expression. We think documentaries should be artistic, not just informative. That杏吧专区檚 the guiding philosophy of the Cinematic Arts Workshop.杏吧专区
Professor Charles E. Richard, Director of the Cinematic Arts Workshop at the UL Lafayette produced both films. 杏吧专区淩aised on Rice and Gravy really exemplifies the core values of the Workshop and our films,杏吧专区 said Richard. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 a close, creative look at how something so small and ordinary, like plate lunches, can embody those big things that we value most about our native culture.杏吧专区
Raised on Rice and Gravy will debut at the Bayou Bijou Theater in the UL Lafayette Student Union, 600 McKinley St., on Saturday, June 7th, at 3:00 pm. A rice-and-gravy reception will follow. Admission is free. For more information, call (337) 277-5292, or e-mail conni@louisiana.edu.