Mire's Films on Cajun Culture

Using vivid visual images and hot Cajun music, Cajun filmmaker Pat Mire documents Cajun folkways in two films, Anything I Catch: The Handfishing Story and Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras.

Anything I Catch: The Handfishing Story shows the exciting sport of handfishing. Fishermen wade into the murky bayous and reach down into hollow logs and stumps to grab fish and turtles with their bare hands. Friends and family gather to celebrate the catch with festive cooking, storytelling, and music. The film stresses the relationship between the Cajuns and the land and examines the chain of events set off by man s attempt to improve his environment by dredging the bayous. This entertaining film documents an interesting folk tradition while examining the relationship between nature and culture.

Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras highlights another folk tradition that is known to few outside of South Louisiana. This film gives an insider s view of the Mamou Mardi Gras Run, which has been extensively reported but rarely understood. With the help of Cajun folklorist Barry Ancelet, a Cajun priest, and others, Pat Mire delves into folk dramas that date back to pre-Christian and Medieval times. The film follows processions of masked and costumed revelers as they travel from house to house gathering ingredients for communal gumbos. The revelers perform in exchange for food or, in other words, dance for a chicken. The stunning images and rich soundtracks of both films make both a good choice. Both films are available on video through the Southern Culture Catalog.

Anything I Catch: The Handfishing Story Color, 27 minutes. $25.00.

Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras Color, 57 minutes . $30.00.

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