Loyola Seniors Screen Their Films at Prytania - Canal Place Showcase
The next crop of filmmakers, born out of Hollywood South.
Dear Moviegoers,
“For the last three years, I've been teaching film production at Loyola University,” says teacher and filmmaker Adam Sekuler, whose Music and Media - Digital Filmmaking department at Loyola University in New Orleans will be hosting a Film Senior Showcase at the Prytania Theatres’s Canal Place location. Sekuler produces revelatory documentaries - like 36 Hours and Tomorrow Never Knows which I’ve previously reviewed - and is no stranger to shorts programming, having previously commissioned Cinema-19 at the height of the COVID quarantines. On the evening of May 12th though, the graduating students of his digital filmmaking course will take focus on the big screen.
When asked about this coming generation of filmmakers, Sekuler is nothing but positive. “If this class of filmmakers is any indication of the future, cinema will continue to burn brightly. I find that with each class of students, there is more and more sophistication about the mechanics and poetics of the moving image. They, fortunately, are entering a marketplace here in New Orleans where there are literally dozens of major feature film and television projects coming through every day.”
His students helped put on the Crescent City Film & Arts Festival this (and I believe every) year, of which the film portions can still be viewed on their Facebook page. But at the senior showcase, the students won’t just be curating; the light of the projector will shine on themselves, with each having their own movie screened.
It may be odd timing for the event, as Prytania’s Canal Place is currently hosting several major theatrical engagements, including a near-breathtaking weekly program called Wildwood, starting just a half-hour after the Loyola kids begin their showtime. Still, with free admission and plenty of passionate spunk, these young filmmakers ought to benefit from such scheduling obstacles, at least by virtue of just being there.
As this graduating class enters the industry, Sekuler believes open arms will greet his students. “Thankfully the New Orleans independent filmmaking community continues to grow and it's a community filled with generosity. If they immerse themselves in the community, they should have no trouble being able to continue to produce work.”
While Sekuler touts Another Scary Movie and Jackie and Mel as interesting selections that have already garnered local accolades, he shows no favoritism for just any one student. “…all of these films show that Loyola continues to produce amazing emerging talent. I know all of these students will do great things in the cinema and elsewhere. Their work is incredible and deserves to travel the festival circuit. All of them.”
The Film Senior Showcase plays at Prytania’s Canal Place on May 12th, 2022 at 7:30 PM CST. Admission is free and open to the public.
Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,
