City of a Million Dreams: A Cinematic Love Letter to New Orleans Second Line Culture
May 2, 2023
By Christopher Leach
WGNO ABC News
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) –There’s so much to the uniqueness of New Orleans and it’s exuberant spirit. Jazz funerals are the everyday holidays that salute the crossing of New Orleans’ “dearly departed.” Second Lines are also the rhythmic memory of traditions that are well over 300 years old. City of a Million Dreams, is a new documentary film by Filmmaker and Author Jason Berry, that celebrates that legacy.
“I think this is a city that has such an authentic roots culture. It attracts people, who want a sense of the authentic and being in a place that does have deep roots and a celebrated history that is shown in the food, music and the dramas,” explains Jason Berry.
Monique Moss is a celebrated choreographer and the films Creative Director and says, “it’s really about the freedom of movement of the body that is connected to music here. You can see it in second lines in the streets. Dance is extremely intertwined in the daily lives of the people of this town.”
The film covers topics, such as Hurricane Katrina, the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, Congo Square and the Ring Shout Dances of enslaved people. These dances with drums and atmosphere are where jazz music and second line tradition were born. The themes expressed tell a comprehensive emotional story of New Orleans.
“I think the takeaway from this film is that New Orleans is a city that carries is memory in rituals of music death and grieving. In a sense we are at our best when we bury the dead, because we celebrate life,” says Berry…(click here to read more)
