NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana-shot film that took top honors at this year's Sundance Film Festival has returned to the state where it was made for a Hollywood-style, red-carpet premiere before opening in select theaters nationwide this summer.
The makers and stars of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" — all newcomers to the big screen — walked a red carpet Monday night at the Joy Theater on streetcar-lined Canal Street.
The film stars Louisiana natives and uses the state's marshes and bayous to tell the mythical tale of a 6-year-old girl named Hushpuppy struggling to survive in the southern Delta with her ailing father as a storm approaches.
"Beasts" won the grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition at Sundance as well as its cinematography award. At the Cannes Film Festival in France in May, Louisiana's indie darling won the Camera d'Or for best first film by director Benh Zeitlin.
