Richard Ford wrote, “You can rebuild a city, but you can’t remake it.” New Orleans is rebuilding, but its enduring pulse and resilience is found in the expression of literature, music, art and traditions steeped in a culture as rich and old as the city itself. As the New Orleans Hope and Heritage Project has grown and more writers, artists, photographers, musicians, sound recordists, film makers, legal wonders, radio producers, healers, and visionaries have come together, we realized we were telling a story not only of what has survived after Katrina, but also of what refuses to be lost. This is the essence of New Orleans culture. This is the story that we want to tell.

We sought locals to tell the story of their city because we wanted to archive New Orleans culture authentically: what has endured the storm and, therefore, what must be preserved. We arranged a collection of award winning writers whose names have garnered great respect in and beyond New Orleans and those whose voices are fresh and unknown. The New Orleans Hope and Heritage Project represents a tapestry of these voices: the Pushcart Prize nominee writing about the Mississippi River and the restauranteur who serves us hot sausage and gumbo because the Baquets have been feeding Creole soul food to New Orleanians for three generations; a city tour guide illustrating the vital importance of the New Orleans port and the President and founder of the Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club divulging the history of jazz funerals.

Our essays became a weekly radio series on our regional NPR station during All Things Considered. The audio tracks, one by one, became – and continue to become – short films. The short films began appearing in film festivals. The Moondance Film Festival. The Ann Arbor Film Festival. The New Orleans Film Festival. We are only just beginning.

We want to introduce the real New Orleans to our nation: her charm, her secrets, her mystery, and the stories of her culture one will only hear told on the stoops and in the kitchens of her brightly colored Creole cottages, camelbacks, and shotgun houses.  MORE INFOMATION HERE>>