CELEBRATED CROSS-CULTURAL DOCUMENTARY ABOUT NEW ORLEANS MUSIC, “UP FROM THE STREETS,” TO HAVE ITS EAST COAST PREMIERE MARCH 4TH, OPENING NIGHT, AT THE 21st DC INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL.
Six-time Grammy winner and Composer Terence Blanchard serves as executive producer and music director for the film
Los Angeles, California. Eagle Rock Entertainment and Michael Murphy Productions, Inc. are proud to announce the East Coast premiere of a new feature-length documentary, Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music, that spotlights New Orleans’ distinct and deep-rooted music culture and history.
Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music dissects the city’s unique musical heritage – from its early innovations in Jazz through R&B and Funk to the city’s most modern-day musicians – and will premiere at the 21st DC Independent Film Festival on opening night, Wednesday, March 4th, at 7:15pm, at the historic Lincoln Theater. The screening will be accompanied by a pre-reception at 6:15 featuring a performance from New Orleans’ own Dr. Michael White and his Quartet. Following the screening will be a Q&A session with Dr. Michael White, Director Michael Murphy, Producer Cilista Eberle and UNC Filmmaking Professor, Michael Frierson, Ph.D. An additional performance will follow.
“Anyone interested in the culture and music of New Orleans will love this film,” said Blanchard who grew-up in New Orleans in a house filled with the diverse sounds of jazz, church music and opera. “The resilience of the people of New Orleans reflects the story of America. The film is the personal story of a city and its musicians with a universal message.”
Up From The Streets® has just received an Award of Excellence for Documentary Feature from the IndieFEST Film Awards as well as nominations for the Best Documen-tary Award in the 2020 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and the DC Independent Film Festival.
The highly-anticipated debut of Up From The Streets®, filmed primarily in New Orleans, celebrates the culture of New Orleans through the lens of music, looking at the evolution of New Orleans music and how it has reflected the culture and times in which it was created. There has always been music on the streets of New Orleans, which allowed it to flow across racial and cultural boundaries long before tours, radio, records and streaming. The film features personal reflections from New Orleans’ most impactful musicians including, but not limited to, Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick, Jr, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Mannie Fresh, Dr. Michael White, and commentary by na-tional and international musicians (Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Sting) along with archival and newly filmed performances by iconic artists such as Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Allen Toussaint, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irma Thomas and The Neville Brothers.
Michael Murphy Productions (MMP) is a New Orleans based, award-winning producing company that focuses on projects highlighting culture and music. Teaming up with MMP is world-leading distributor and executive producer, Eagle Rock Entertainment.
“From the drumming at Congo Square by free people of color and enslaved Africans, to the explosion of musical styles that can still be heard on the streets of the city, New Orleans musicians have impacted and captured so much of the city’s culture at many different times,” says Michael Murphy. “The power of music changes lives and shapes history, this is what we wanted to capture in this film.”
“Eagle Rock is proud to present Up From The Streets®, directed by Michael Murphy and with Terence Blanchard steering the soundtrack,” said Eagle Rock Entertainment executive producer, Geoff Kempin. “The artists who have given identity to what we think of as the music of New Orleans, are now represented by a film that is both insightful and honest in its portrayal of the music.”
**Tickets for the East Coast premiere of Up From The Streets® at the 21st DC Independent Film Festival are available now at dciff-indie.org. The film will screen on Wednesday, March 4th, at 7:15pm, at the historic Lincoln Theater. The Festival is held at various venues throughout the city.
About Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music: Produced by award-winning producing company, Michael Murphy Productions, the 2019 feature-length documentary offers a comprehensive look into New Orleans’ cultural and musical history and offers personal reflections and performances by the city’s most renowned musicians. For more information on Up From The Streets®, follow the film on Facebook.
About Eagle Rock Entertainment: Eagle Rock Entertainment is the world-leading producer and distributor of music documentary and concert films. Founded in 1997, the multi-award-winning company releases over 50 productions a year and controls the distribution of over 2,000 hours of music programming. The catalogue includes work by award-winning filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Brett Morgen, Stanley Nelson, Paul Dugdale, Bob Smeaton, Jeremy Marre, Mike Figgis, Leslie Woodhead and Michael Epstein. Eagle Rock works with a wide spectrum of artists in-cluding the Rolling Stones, Eminem, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Muse, Steven Wilson, Slash, Iggy Pop, Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney, Shania Twain and Van Morrison. Eagle Rock is headquartered in London. For more information on Eagle Rock Entertainment, visit www.eagle-rock-productions.com.
For more information or media passes, please contact Alisse Kingsley at Muse Media, 323-467-8508;
E: AlissetheMuse@aol.com.
