Art for the digital age
The Pontchartrain Film Festival is a project of the nonprofit Olde Towne Arts Center. Since 2008, OTAC's Digital Arts Program has been teaching the use of digital media by helping to preserve family and community histories. Classes have included Digital Darkroom, Video Production and Editing, OTAC Media Arts Week, The Art of the Historic Image, Preserve Our History Days, Mining Mandeville History and more.
To observe the St. Tammany Parish bicentennial, the OTAC community history project, exhibit and documentary film "Waterways to Railways" was produced with support from St. Tammany Parish Government and with the Guardians of Slidell History, GOSH Museum in Slidell, and was on view at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville,.
Exhibitions from OTAC Digital Arts program before PFF include:
"Eyes on Olde Towne": a juried exhibit of photography and art that interpreted what was lost and what remained in the Olde Towne Historic Preservation District three years after Hurricane Katrina. Grover Mouton, Tulane University, juror. 2008
"Voices of Olde Towne": Using Olde Towne Slidell as its subject, OTAC's Media Arts Week engaged students in a week-long hands-on video, photography and editing class. The short film "Voices of Olde Towne", featuring three multi-generational businesses in the historic preservation district, was produced and shown in an outdoor tented theater at the city of Slidell’s Arts Evening. 2009.
Arts Evening: OTAC set up a tent for its first film festival held at the city of Slidell’s Arts Evening in 2009.
“48-Hour Film”: OTAC Digital Arts students participated in the New Orleans 48 Hour Film Festival and script, shoot and in 48 hours produced “Murder in the Marigny” which won “Best Soundtrack.”
"Preserve Our History": In collaboration with the Guardians of Slidell History, OTAC held workshops in photography and video and digital preservation as part of the St. Tammany Bicentennial. It included Preserve Our History Days that resulted in more than 20 hours of oral histories and more than 100 scanned, documented and restored images that are now part of the St. Tammany Parish Bicentennial archives.
"Waterways to Railways": The exhibit was created in collaboration with the Guardians of Slidell History and with assistance from the St. Tammany Commission on Cultural Affairs. It opened in the fall of 2010 at the GOSH Museum.
"Waterways to Railways II": The OTAC exhibit was redesigned and put on exhibit at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville. A 10-minute video history presentation accompanied the exhibit and allowed visitors to hear the stories behind the images.
LPBMM ‘s then Director Don Lynch said, “’Waterways to Railways’ puts a personal perspective on the history of the area and ties it to real people.”
“OFFstage: Behind the scenes of life”: OTAC in partnership with the Slidell Little Theatre remembers one of SLT’s young thespians for the Briana Dekemel Memorial Juried Photography Exhibition 2012. Dale Newkirk, Southeastern Louisiana University, juror.
Available from OTAC’s Digital Arts program
“Waterways to Railways: Stories from Slidell History" DVD, 58 min. 2011. While Slidell is known for its origins as a railroad town, “Waterways to Railways” captures the rich maritime histories of families that survived and thrived on the waterways of eastern St. Tammany and families that lived and worked the railways. $15.
“Voices of Olde Towne,” DVD, 12 min. 2009. Stories of the history of Naulty’s Shoe Repair, Slidell Cleaners and Original Tire. $10; or $5 when purchased with “Waterways to Railways.”
To order, email info@PontchartrainFilmFestival.com.. The documentary "Waterways to Railways" is available for purchase at the LPBMM Museum store, Mabel St. in Madisonville. A DVD combo of "Waterways to Railways" and "Voices of Olde Towne" is available in Slidell at Lowry Case Dunham & Vivien, 2001 First St. Cost is $15.
Watch “Murder on the Marigny” starring New Orleans vocalist Margie Perez and original music, “Somebody Wake Me Please” by Robert Stephens; with performances by OTAC President Tom Collins and members of the RedFish Blues Band at http://vimeo.com/6154090, courtesy of Bob Krieger and LaFILM.
OTAC Digital Arts Program Director is Sharon Edwards and instructors have included Scott Threlkeld, Bob Krieger, Kathleen DesHotel and Charlotte Collins.