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 小蝌蚪APP.
小蝌蚪APP People used to come home to eat lunch with their families,小蝌蚪APP explained folklorist Conni Castille, the film小蝌蚪APP檚 co-director. 小蝌蚪APP淔or farmers and laborers, it was an important daily ritual to sit down and share the midday meal at home. That小蝌蚪APP檚 not possible today, so neighborhood plate lunch houses have become a substitute for that in South Louisiana culture.小蝌蚪APP
Directed by Castille and Allison Bohl, Raised on Rice and Gravy offers a local小蝌蚪APP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 小蝌蚪APP 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,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淭hese restaurants are a place where folks come together as regulars and share a little common heritage. It小蝌蚪APP檚 like going home for lunch.小蝌蚪APP 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小蝌蚪APP檛 served on Mondays. 小蝌蚪APP淭hat doesn小蝌蚪APP檛 happen in fast food drive-thrus,小蝌蚪APP 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小蝌蚪APP檚 on Lamar, and Country Cuisine on 小蝌蚪APP 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 小蝌蚪APP淟ouisiana Filmmaker Award小蝌蚪APP from last year小蝌蚪APP檚 New Orleans Film Festival.
小蝌蚪APP A lot of filmmakers emphasize the informational nature of documentaries,小蝌蚪APP Bohl said. 小蝌蚪APP淲ith both 小蝌蚪APP楥ollars First小蝌蚪APP and now 小蝌蚪APP楻ice and Gravy小蝌蚪APP, we try to make our films about creative expression. We think documentaries should be artistic, not just informative. That小蝌蚪APP檚 the guiding philosophy of the Cinematic Arts Workshop.小蝌蚪APP
Professor Charles E. Richard, Director of the Cinematic Arts Workshop at the UL Lafayette produced both films. 小蝌蚪APP淩aised on Rice and Gravy really exemplifies the core values of the Workshop and our films,小蝌蚪APP said Richard. 小蝌蚪APP淚t小蝌蚪APP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.小蝌蚪APP
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.