Harlan Kirgan
The 1990’s movie “Dirty Rice” is returning to Eunice for a showing at the Queen Cinema during October’s Experience Louisiana Festival.
Filmmaker Pat Mire, who directed “Dirty Rice,” which was filmed in around Eunice, announced the film at a recent Eunice Rotary Club meeting.
“Eunice helped make this movie,” he said.
“Dirty Rice” also will be shown at the St. Landry Cinema in Opelousas, he said.
“Dirty Rice” had a 35-person crew and was shot on 35mm film, he said.
“Over half of Eunice worked on the film,” he said.
“Dirty Rice” is still the longest running film to play a Lafayette theater,” he said. The film played at the United Artists theater in Lafayette for five months, he said.
The film was shot in 1996 and released in 1997, Mire said.
However, when it is shown at the Experience Louisiana Festival this year Mire said proceeds will got to the festival, which donates to the LSUE Foundation for scholarships.
“What a sweet school,” Mire said of LSUE.
Mire leads a film component of the Experience Lousiana Festival that showcases Louisiana films as well as premieres independent film releases.
Mire also created Cinema on the Bayou in Lafayette.
Cinema on the Bayou ranked in the top 15 winter film festivals in the U.S., and with over a thousand film submissions worldwide, it screened 198 films in January 2016, most of which were world, U.S. and Louisiana premieres, Mire’s website states.
This more recent Cinema on the Bayou was a huge success with more than 200 filmmakers and several thousand participants, he said.
“We were coast to coast live in Japan and it was a huge deal,” he said of the showing of “Sushi and Sauce Piquante.”
Mire directed the film about Gerry McGee “borne of an American master, famed Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee,” according to Mire’s website.
McGee played with The Ventures and was a session musician with Delaney and Bonnie, John Mayall, Rita Coolidge, Barbra Streisand and Elvis, the website stated.
“The film blends interviews with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Dr. John and Edward James Olmos with archival footage and stills and live action 35mm and Red cinematography to tell one of the least known stories of an individual who has had a major impact on the history of Rock and Roll,” the website stated.
Clay Fourrier, executive producer of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, has recognized that Mire’s work has led to a number of high-profile film projects with LPB that have been aired nationally on PBS and that have garnered “both LPB and Mr. Mire numerous awards, including nationally recognized Telly and NETA awards of excellence,” the site states.