Reviews
“It’s a movie of jazz funerals, second lines, roof dancing and swamp dwelling; of shootings and costumes and death, but ultimately of life and the living. In a nutshell, Dreams occupies a dreamlike space that encapsulates a world henceforth not known well to outsiders.”
– Alex DeVore, Santa Fe Reporter
“New Orleanians know the relation of the parades to jazz funerals. There’s hardly a documentary about New Orleans music and culture that doesn’t include images of second lines, but few films dig into their history and meaning like Jason Berry’s City of a Million Dreams. With its onscreen narrators, clarinetist Dr. Michael White and the late Deb “Big Red” Cotton, even fewer are as well positioned to discuss the relationship of loss, relief and joy.”
– Will Coviello, Gambit Weekly
“Tragedy and comedy, life and death: these are the poles between which the events and people in this film move, with the good and the bad often inseparable.. For anyone who loves the place, this film will enhance your understanding. For anyone curious about New Orleans, it’s a fantastic place to start.”
– Malcolm Jones, The Daily Beast
“Yes, funerals — as in the famous joint expressions of mourning and celebration that feature “second line” dance marches to mark the joy of a soul’s ascent into heaven. As director Berry shows, those ceremonies have extraordinarily complex roots and meanings. What his documentary does, lovingly and in mesmerizingly watchable fashion, is explore the African American culture from which jazz funerals evolved — and how the funerals epitomize the soul and resilience of the Crescent City perpetually endangered by storms, floods, fires, coastal erosion, and diseases such as Yellow Fever.”
– Quin Hillyer, The Washington Examiner
In the News
‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival
‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival The New Orleans Film [...]
Jason Berry’s ‘City of a Million Dreams’ documentary illuminates New Orleans jazz funerals
Jason Berry's 'City of a Million Dreams' documentary illuminates New Orleans jazz funerals New Orleans journalist, author and documentarian Jason [...]
Sweet Briar to screen City of a Million Dreams and host Q&A with director and co-producer
Sweet Briar to screen City of a Million Dreams and host Q&A with director and co-producer Sweet Briar College will [...]
Heartland will show films with Oscar buzz, including Princess Diana film, new Wes Anderson
Heartland will show films with Oscar buzz, including Princess Diana film, new Wes Anderson This year's Heartland will run from Oct. 7 [...]
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Scene of a second line parade in the documentary “City of a Million Dreams,” photograph courtesy of Jason Berry ‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival GalleryScene of a second line parade in the documentary “City of a Million Dreams,” photograph courtesy of Jason Berry ‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival
Scene of a second line parade in the documentary “City of a Million Dreams,” photograph courtesy of Jason Berry ‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival
‘City Of A Million Dreams’ Documentary Will Screen At The Broadside In Advance Of Film Festival The New Orleans Film [...]
The First Report
The First Report As an investigative reporter, Jason Berry exposed the church’s systematic cover-up of sexual abuse. Somehow, it [...]
New film uses jazz funerals as prisms reflecting, or refracting, the joyous soul of New Orleans
Dr. Michael White, the traditional New Orleans jazz clarinetist, is a virtuoso at his craft. If a new documentary [...]
Congo Square Under Siege: The Latest Threat to Black Culture’s Ground Zero in New Orleans
Portia Pollack, 60, lived in a cottage in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, downriver from Louis Armstrong Park. A physical therapist [...]
A New Doc Shines a Loving Light on the New Orleans Jazz Funeral
By Malcolm Jones, Editor of the Daily Beast The words “funeral” and “joyous” rarely come coupled in the same [...]
A Father, a Daughter and a Film
By Kim Singletary In honor of Father’s Day this month, I thought I’d share the story of a father [...]
Money, hurricane, death: Jason Berry’s ‘City of a Million Dreams’ mulls history of second-lines, jazz funerals
By Sue Strachan It was the last day of filming “City of a Million Dreams: The Untold Story of Funerals [...]
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