Royce Osborn. Photo: Josh Brasted

Memorial For Filmmaker Royce Osborn Set For This Weekend

On September 14, the visionary behind the 2003 documentary All on a Mardi Gras Day, passed away. Royce Osborn was a 7th Ward native who would go on to be recognized by the New Orleans Film Festival and receive a Louisiana Filmmaker Award for that film, which focused on the “story of New Orleans’ black Mardi Gras.”

As Geraldine Wyckoff wrote in Osborn’s obituary for OffBeat, his legacy will be forever cemented through that film, but his memory lives on in other ways. “Beyond his filmmaking that included his work on If Those Bricks Could Talk, which focused on the human side of the destruction of the Lafitte Projects, Osborn was perhaps best known for his love of reggae music and the Jamaican culture,” she wrote.

Royce’s love of the music and culture of the African diaspora – and, of course, his masterpiece of a film – will be on display at his official memorial service taking place on Sunday, October 8 at the George & Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center (1225 N. Rampart St.). The schedule is as follows:

1:20p.m. – doors open
2:00p.m – screenings of All on a Mardi Gras Day film extras plus interviews with Royce
2:10p.m – screening of All on a Mardi Gras Day
3:10p.m – tributes by loved ones
3:30p.m – musical tributes from Henry Butler, Gregory Thompson and John Boutte
4:00p.m – arrival of Brass band, skeletons, baby dolls and African dancers
4:10p.m – Second line to Congo Square and meeting with percussionist Luther Gray
5:30p.m – after party celebration at Golden Feather (704 N. Rampart St.)