Explore Getting Back to Abnormal filmmaker Paul Stekler's list of essential documentaries about New Orleans below, or read more in his history of documentary film in New Orleans.
| Title | Year | Filmmaker(s) / Producer(s) | More Info / Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans Travelogue | 1940 | James A. Fitzpatrick | YouTube |
| The Children Were Watching | 1961 | Robert Drew | The New Yorker |
| Stranded in Canton | 1973 | William Eggleston | YouTube |
| Black Indians of New Orleans | 1976 | Maurice Martinez | YouTube |
| Cheap And Greasy | 1977 | Burwell Ware/NOVAC | Vimeo |
| Changing The Channel: The Renovation Question | 1977 | Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker | Vimeo |
| Degas in New Orleans | 1977 | Gary Goldman | YouTube |
| Ain't Nobody's Business | 1978 | NOVAC | Vimeo |
| Talking Crime | 1978 | Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker | Vimeo |
| Always for Pleasure | 1978 | Les Blank | YouTube |
| This Cat Can Play Anything | 1978 | Stevenson Palfi, Eddie Kurtz and Andrew Kolker | YouTube |
| The Clarks | 1979 | Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker | Vimeo |
| Up from the Cradle of Jazz | 1980 | Jason Berry/NOVAC | Jason Berry Author |
| Hot Stuff: The Restaurants of New Orleans | 1980 | John Beyer | POV |
| Pete! | 1980 | John Beyer | POV |
| Yes Ma'am | 1982 | Gary Goldman | Filmakers |
| View from the Stoop | 1982 | Karen Snyder/NOVAC | New Orleans Historical |
| The Ends of the Earth | 1982 | Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker | YouTube |
| Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together | 1982 | Stevenson Palfi | YouTube |
| The Men of LSU | 1982 | John Beyer | YouTube |
| To the Best of Our Abilities | 1984 | Fred Schultz | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Yeah, You Rite! | 1984 | Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker | YouTube |
| A House Divided | 1984 | Burrell Ware | POV |
| Get Down Street Sound | 1984 | Neil Alexander | POV |
| In that Number | 1985 | Jerry Brock | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Huey Long | 1985 | Ken Burns | PBS |
| Real New Orleans series | 1986 | Eddie Kurtz | Vimeo |
| Which Governs Best | 1986 | Eddie Kurtz | Vimeo |
| La Pharmacie Francais | 1986 | Robin Katchan | POV |
| The Chief: Louis Prima | 1986 | John Beyer | POV |
| Uncle Earl | 1986 | Rick Smith/LPB | POV |
| Among Brothers: Black Politics in New Orleans | 1987 | Paul Stekler | Vimeo |
| Gottschalk Festival: The Life and Music of Louis M. Gottschalk | 1987 | John Huszar | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| The Creole Controversy | 1987 | Karen Synder/WYES | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Mystery of the Purple Rose | 1989 | Peggy Scott Laborde | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Men of the Ring: Boxing Legends of New Orleans | 1989 | Kathleen Mulvihill/WLAE | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Red Beans and Ricely Yours: Satchmo in New Orleans | 1990 | Peggy Scott Laborde/WYES | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Backlash: Race and the American Dream | 1991 | Bess Carrick | Vimeo |
| Island of Saints and Souls | 1991 | Neil Alexander | Folklife in Louisiana |
| Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics | 1991 | Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker & Paul Stekler | POV |
| John McCrady's Southern Scene | 1992 | Matthew Martinez | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Greetings from Out There | 1993 | Ellen Spiro | Spiro Films |
| He Must Have Something | 1994 | Steven Tyler | YouTube |
| New Orleans Jazz Funerals from the Inside | 1995 | David Jones | Cajun Market |
| Streetcar Stories | 1995 | Michael Mizell-Nelson | Po Boy Festival |
| Journey for Justice: The A.P. Tureaud Story | 1996 | Rachel Emanuel | LPB |
| New Orleans Voodoo from the Inside | 1996 | David Jones | Voodoo Shop |
| Storyville: The Naked Dance | 1997 | Anne Craig & Maia Harris | ITVS |
| Pushcarts and Plantations: Jewish Life in New Orleans | 1998 | Brian Cohen | Wikipedia |
| He's the Prettiest: A Salute to Big Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana's 50 Years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting | 1998 | Will Horton | Folklife in Lousiana |
| Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening | 1998 | Tika Laudun | PBS |
| Ruthie, The Duck Girl | 1999 | Rick Delaup | Best of New Orleans |
| Degas in New Orleans: A Creole Sojourn | 1999 | David Jones | Degas House |
| Irish in New Orleans | 1999 | Terri Landry | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Jazz | 2000 | Ken Burns | Artist Direct |
| The Danny Barker Show | 2001 | Matthew Martinez/WYES | Kurts Communications LLC |
| Italian New Orleans | 2001 | Terri Landry | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Fatal Flood | 2001 | Chana Gazit | PBS |
| Shalom Y'all | 2003 | Brian Bain | Brian Bain |
| Louisiana - A History | 2003 | Louisiana Public Broadcasting | LPB |
| All on a Mardi Gras Day | 2003 | Royce Osborn/WYES | Spyboy Pictures |
| The Quorum: Blacks, Creoles, and Whites Arrested for Socializing at a Coffee House | 2004 | Maurice Martinez | Door Knob Films/Youtube |
| German New Orleans | 2004 | Terri Landry | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| Desire | 2005 | Julie Gustafson | Vimeo |
| Hurricane Katrina: The Storm that Drowned a City | 2005 | Caroline Penry-Davey & Peter Chinn | PBS |
| The Storm | 2005 | Martin Smith | PBS |
| New Orleans is Sinking | 2005 | 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley | YouTube |
| William Eggleston in the Real World | 2005 | Michael Almereyda | YouTube |
| American Creole: New Orleans Reunion | 2006 | Glen Pitre & Michelle Benoit | Cote Blanche Productions |
| C'est Levee | 2006 | Ellen Reynolds | Vimeo |
| Jewish New Orleans | 2006 | Terri Landry | Louisiana Endowment For The Humanities |
| When the Levees Broke | 2006 | Spike Lee | YouTube |
| Hurricane on the Bayou | 2006 | Greg MacGillivray & Glen Pitre | YouTube |
| Too White to be Black, Too Black to be White: The New Orleans Creole | 2007 | Maurice Martinez | Door Knob Films |
| The Axe in the Attic | 2007 | Ed Pincus & Lucia Small | The Axe in the Attic |
| New Orleans | 2007 | Steven Ives | Thirteen |
| Along Lake Pontchartrain | 2007 | Peggy Scott Laborde | WYES |
| Reborn: New Orleans Schools | 2007 | Drea Cooper | YouTube |
| Tootie's Last Suit | 2007 | Lisa Katzman | YouTube |
| By Invitation Only | 2008 | Rebecca Snedeker | By Invitation Only |
| Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans | 2008 | Dawn Logsdon & Lolis Eric Elie | YouTube |
| Trouble the Water | 2008 | Tia Lessin & Carl Deal | YouTube |
| Member of the Club | 2008 | Phoebe Ferguson | YouTube |
| A Village Called Versailles | 2009 | Leo Chiang | ITVS |
| The Old Man and the Storm | 2009 | June Cross | PBS |
| The Yes Men Fix the World | 2009 | Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno & Kurt Engfehr | YouTube |
| Mine | 2009 | Geralyn Pezanoski | YouTube |
| Land of Opportunity | 2010 | Luisa Dantas | Vimeo |
| If God is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise | 2010 | Spike Lee | HBO |
| Lost Restaurants of New Orleans | 2010 | Peggy Scott Laborde | Peggy Scott Laborde |
| Race | 2010 | Katherine Cecil | Race The Documentary |
| The Big Uneasy | 2010 | Harry Shearer | The Big Uneasy |
| Walker Percy | 2010 | Win Riley | Walker Percy |
| The Sons of Tennessee Williams | 2010 | Tim Wolff | YouTube |
| Mr. Cao Goes to Washington | 2011 | Leo Chiang | Mr. Cao Goes to Washington |
| New Orleans in the '50s | 2011 | Peggy Scott Laborde | WYES |
| Bury the Hatchet | 2011 | Aaron Walker | YouTube |
| I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful | 2011 | Jonathan Demme | YouTube |
| Tchoupitoulas | 2013 | Bill & Turner Ross | The New York Times |
| Rebel | 2013 | Maria Agui Carter | Rebel Documentary |
| Rebirth: New Orleans | 2013 | John Merrow | Rebirth: New Orleans |
| A Warehouse on Tchoupitoulas | 2013 | Jessy Cale Williamson | Vimeo |
| Bayou Maharajah | 2013 | Lily Keber | Vimeo |
| Tradition is a Temple: The Modern Masters of New Orleans | 2013 | Darren Hoffman | YouTube |
| The Whole Gritty City | 2013 | Richard Barber | YouTube |
| T-Galop | 2013 | Connie Castille | YouTube |
| Shell Shocked | 2013 | John Richie | YouTube |
| Getting Back to Abnormal | 2014 | Louis Alvarez, Andy Kolker, Peter Odabashian & Paul Stekler | YouTube |