glen Pitre
When not aboard the family’s leaky shrimp boat, Glen Pitre grew up in the Cajun town of Cut Off, Louisiana, went to Harvard on scholarship, graduated with honors, then immediately scooted back down the bayou determined to make his living as a storyteller. By age 25, American Film magazine dubbed him “the father of Cajun cinema” as his low- budget, French dialect “gumbo westerns” broke house records in bayou country theaters. With the help of the Sundance Institute, his internationally-lauded Belizaire the Cajun became his first English-language movie. In the years since, he’s worked from Paris to Mumbai as writer, producer, and director of big screen dramas, cable thrillers, PBS documentaries, and IMAX films. His movies have featured Oscar and Emmy winning actors, played in theaters and on TV worldwide, been lauded at festivals such as Sundance and Cannes, and prompted famous film critic Roger Ebert to call Pitre “a legendary American regional director.” Pitre’s other works include novels and non-fiction books, museum exhibits and sacred space design, multi-screen video installations and immersive experiences, still photography, radio programming, professional theater, on-stage storytelling… to name a few. Over his career Pitre has won countless awards including an honorary doctorate, a humanities lifetime achievement, and a knighthood from France, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
michelle Benoit
Michelle Benoit has written, produced and directed films and documentaries often in conjunction with her writing partner and husband Glen Pitre. She executive produced Cigarettes & Nylons, a French film for Arté and France 2 television. Among her other films are a three-screen documentary called Air Racers and The Man Who Came Back, a feature film western starring Billy Zane, Sean Young, George Kennedy, Armand Assante and Eric Braeden (Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless). She co-wrote The Scoundrel’s Wife (released on DVD as The Home Front in 2002) starring Tatum O’Neal, Tim Curry, and Julian Sands. It won best feature at the San Diego Film Festival. Her award-winning documentaries include Willie Frances Must Die Again, Haunted Waters Fragile Lands and Good for What Ails You. She wrote, produced and directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s 2006 Katrina anniversary special American Creole which won a Silver Telly. As Artist-in-Residence for Screenwriting and Film Directing at the University of New Orleans she executive produced Watermarks, a trilogy of shorts about Hurricane Katrina that went on to win several festival awards. She has also been a personal secretary to a voodoo priestess, assistant to an international interior design team and dance party animator at celebratory events when not creating stories. All said, she is happiest on the dance floor especially when the music is from the Balkans.