New Orleans Film Festival Announces Opening Film THE INSPECTION

NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) will open its 33rd annual, Oscar®-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) with The Inspection, the narrative feature debut from multi-year NOFF alum Elegance Bratton, on Thursday, Nov. 3, 7:00 p.m. In attendance will be writer and director Elegance Bratton and producers Effie Brown and Chester Algernal Gordon.

The venue for this year’s opening film will be Second Line Stages. This event highlights the premiere film and television studio’s addition of four brand new purpose-built soundstages.

Starring Jeremy Pope, Raúl Castillo, McCaul Lombardi, Aaron Dominguez, with Bokeem Woodbine and Gabrielle Union, The Inspection had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and is the Closing Night Selection at the New York Film Festival.

“We first met Elegance and Chester in 2017, when their short film ‘Walk for Me’ screened at the festival,” said Clint Bowie, Artistic Director of the New Orleans Film Society. “They immediately endeared themselves to the entire NOFF community through their personal warmth and charm, as well as their exciting and authentic storytelling style. The festival went on to show every film they’ve made together since, including the short ‘Buck,’ the documentary feature Pier Kids, and now their narrative feature debut. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these members of the family back to NOFF with such an intimate and important film as The Inspection.”

Producer Effie Brown is also no stranger to the festival. She previously attended as producer of the film Dear White People in 2014 and was also a mentor for the New Orleans Film Society’s Emerging Voices Director’s Lab for Louisiana-based filmmakers of color.

n celebrating the opening of NOFF2022 with The Inspection, NOFS invites All Access passholders to walk the red carpet from 6-7 PM and join in the Second Line Stages ribbon cutting ceremony at 6 PM. The Opening Night Party will follow the screening at Second Line Stages. Tickets for NOFF Opening Night film + party will be available for purchase to NOFS members on October 14 at noon and to the public on October 21 at noon.

NOFF2022 Opening Night events are supported by Second Line Stages, Impetus, MBS Group, the Mississippi Film Office, Panavision, and Gamechanger.

The Inspection | Dir. Elegance Bratton | 2022 | USA | 95 min.
In Elegance Bratton’s deeply moving film inspired by his own story, a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. An A24 release.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/wSeprzQM6gk

ATTENDING NOFF2022

The NOFF screening schedule and film guide are now available at neworleansfilmfestival.org. In-person screenings will take place between November 3-8 at The Prytania Theatre, Jazz Market New Orleans, The Broad Theater 1, The Broad Theater 4 presented by Gilead Sciences Inc., The Broadside, and Second Line Stages.

Festivalgoers can purchase an All Access Pass, good for admission and priority entry to in-person screenings and the NOFF Virtual Cinema, parties and receptions, panels, and events; or purchase individual tickets for each screening. Individual tickets for in-person and the Virtual Cinema go on sale to NOFS members on October 14, and to the public on October 21 at neworleansfilmfestival.org.

The NOFF Virtual Cinema will run from November 3-13 and offer nearly all 130+ films in the festival lineup! Film lovers can buy a Virtual Pass For One or a Virtual Household Pass to watch all films in the lineup throughout the festival; a Six Film Pass to watch any six films virtually or in-person or buy individual tickets for each virtual screening. Heavily discounted Student and Teacher Passes are also available.

New Orleans Film Society members receive $50 off All Access passes, $3 off in-person screening tickets, and $2 off NOFF Virtual Cinema tickets. Now is the perfect time to become a NOFS member and save with these great benefits! Sign up for membership here.

All festival transactions will be contactless; cash or check payments will not be accepted–– acceptable forms of payment include credit and debit cards, and Apple and Google Pay. Click here for more details.

SUPPORT FOR THE 33rd NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL

The 33rd New Orleans Film Festival’s Marquee sponsors include Second Line Stages, the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund, Warner Bros Discovery, Film New Orleans and City of New Orleans, Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Louisiana Entertainment.

Producing sponsors include The Helis Foundation, Keslow Camera, Andscape, Impetus, MBS Group, Panavision, and Amazon Music.

Premiere sponsors include The Ranch Studios, Restore The Mississippi River Delta, Basecraft, Quixote Studios, FotoKem, Pelican Events, and ABS Production. Premiere trade sponsors include Da Empire.

Feature sponsors include IATSE, HFPA, Crafty Apes, The Dan Lucas Memorial Fund, the International Documentary Association, Original Voices Fellowship presented by NBCU Academy, Gamechanger Films, the Historic New Orleans Collection, Positive Vibes Foundation, Mississippi Film Office, Lifetime, and the St.Petersburg Film Commission.

Supporting sponsors include Hancock Whitney, Firelight Media, The Domain Companies, SAGindie, Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute, Exposure Labs, Black Public Media, the Recording Academy, ITVS, Jones Walker, Louisiana Film Entertainment Association, World Channel, and Reel South. Supporting trade sponsors include Storyville, Reel Security, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Sound Hard, Vivid Ink, True Value, and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South.

The New Orleans Advocate – Times-Picayune is the festival’s Signature Media Sponsor. Media partners include the Gambit, New Orleans Magazine, Burnaway Magazine, Antigravity, Offbeat, 4WWL TV, WWNO, WYES, and WGSO.

The New Orleans Film Society and the 33rd New Orleans Film Festival is supported by grants from Ford Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; Perspective Fund; the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts, and administered by Arts Council New Orleans; South Arts; Greater New Orleans Foundation LGBTQ Fund; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation; the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Louisiana Culture Fund. Funding for Louisiana Culture Care Fund grants has been administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

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