Still from Music from the Big House

Given that Louisiana ranks third in the nation for film and television production, it makes sense that the New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) has grown significantly in both audience and filmmaker attendance. This year’s festival introduces a new sidebar, “keeping{SCORE},” which focuses on the cooperative relationship between music and movies. The seven films in the series highlight the influences of jazz, hip-hop and gospel.

Still from Music From the Big House

Some films relate more directly to New Orleans than others, particularly Live at Preservation Hall: A Louisiana Fairytale, a documentary that chronicles the collaboration between New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and My Morning Jacket. A Jazzman’s Jazzman: The Gerry Carruthers Story is a stop-motion animation puppet mockumentary about a fictional jazz pianist in Sacramento, and follows his rise and fall through deadpan interviews. Music from the Big House puts jazz in a very different context when recording artist Rita Chiarelli visits Angola Prison, where prisoners find new beginnings through jazz music.

Rejoice & Shout, a documentary about gospel music, Beatboxing: The Fifth Element of Hip Hop, a film that tracks the growth of beatboxing from its birth in the ‘70s on the streets of New York, Benda Bilili! and Swell Season are also part of the series.

The New Orleans Film Festival kicks off October 14, and will screen films at the Prytania, Canal Place, Contemporary Arts Center, National WWII Museum, Zeitgeist and Chalmette Movies over the course of six days.