Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, is a documentary film directed by Dawn Logsdon and written by Lolis Eric Elie. Featuring a cast of local musicians, artists and writers, the film relates the history of New Orleans' Tremé neighborhood. Detailing the rich existence of the oldest black neighborhood in America, and its significance as the origin of the Southern Civil Rights Movement and birthplace of jazz, the film has taken a relatively unnoticed neighborhood and brought it to the world’s attention, out from under the shadow of other areas such as the French Quarter, sharing a rich history that in turn enhances the way we view the American experience and the history of the United States. Filmmaker Logdson and writer Elie, both New Orleans natives, began work on this project in 2000, five years before Hurricane Katrina hit. They began a process of documenting the vibrant culture of Faubourg Tremé, in the hopes of uncovering Treme’s unique and hidden history. By some stroke of fate, the entirety of their tapes survived the hurricane and the flooding and devastation that followed. With renewed and deepened resolve to share their little slice of New Orleans with the world, the film was completed in 2008 and debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival that year. The film premiered on the PBS network as part of its Black History Month programming on January 29, 2009. It was described by the New Orleans Tribune as “arguably the most poignant film ever made about New Orleans,” and has been compared to Spike Lee’s documentary "When the Levees Broke" in the level of its accuracy and significance. "Faubourg" (pronounced "foe-boorg'") is a French term that means “suburb” or neighborhood. Thus, Faubourg Tremé (pronounced "Trem-ay'") means "neighborhood Tremé." The name is synonymous with the meaning of this area as not only the oldest black neighborhood, but also as a site of economic, cultural, political and social events that have shaped the course of Black America over the last three centuries. Ironically, very few Americans are aware of the significance of this neighborhood to Americans of African descent, the civil rights movement and the jazz culture that New Orleans is so famous for. The documentary is presented from the first hand perspective of Lolis Eric Elie, a New Orleans journalist who was a staff writer on the HBO series, Treme. Acting as a tour guide, Elie shares his city, and deep love of place, with viewers. The film is a combination of pre-Katrina footage and images, street performances and archival material. The film is interspersed with interviews and personal accounts, including Louisiana poet Laureate Brenda Marie Osbey, historians John Hope Franklin and Eric Foner, and even the 75-year-old contractor that Elie hires to rehabilitate his old house in the Treme district following Katrina.