''Little Chenier'' is a 2006 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Bethany Ashton Wolf Bethany Ashton Wolf is an American film director and screenwriter. Wolf is the writer and director of ''Forever My Girl'' (2018), and was one of the writers of ''Don's Plum'', a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire which has been p ...

and written by Jace Johnson and Wolf. It is set in the

bayous In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and stars

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has been working as an actor since the early '90s. Early life Johnathon Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enfo ...

Frederick Koehler Frederick Koehler (born June 16, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Chip Lowell on ''Kate & Allie'' as well as Andrew Schillinger on the HBO drama ''Oz''. Later life After ''Kate & Allie'', Koehler attended Carnegie Mellon U ...

Tamara Braun Tamara Braun (born April 18, 1971) is an American actress known for her work on daytime television. She portrayed the role of Carly Corinthos on '' General Hospital'' from 2001–2005 and Reese Williams on '' All My Children'' from 2008 to 2009. ...

, Jeremy Davidson,

Clifton Collins Jr. Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by R ...

, and

Chris Mulkey Chris Mulkey (born May 3, 1948) is an American film and television actor. Career Mulkey played the supporting role of husband to Annie Potts's character in '' Any Day Now'' from 1998 to 2002. He has also appeared in '' Captain Phillips'', '' ...

. The film completed principal photography in Louisiana in August 2005, just days before Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita hit all of the areas they had filmed in. Wolf and Johnson, devastated for the Cajun communities of Southwest Louisiana, were grateful that they could at least give them all this film, celebrating the memory of their land, its beauty and their way of life. Given the loss that so many experienced from these hurricanes, Wolf and Johnson decided to change the ending of the film to one that represented a beacon of hope. Little Chenier premiered at the Austin Film Festival on October 20, 2006 to a standing ovation, filled with Cajuns, Southerners, and Louisianans. It continued on the festival circuit through 2007, winning 10 Best Picture Awards. It was released January 18, 2008 to a successful theatrical run by Radio London Films, then on DVD July 8, 2008.

Plot

Two brothers are victimized by a weak and jealous man in this drama shot on location in Louisiana. Beauxregard 'Beaux' Dupuis (Jonathan Schaech) lives in the swamps of Cajun country on a small stretch of land called Little Chenier with his younger mentally handicapped brother, Pemon (Fred Koehler). Beaux supports them both by running a bait shop. Beaux is in love with Mary-Louise (Tamara Braun), who has left him to elope with the son of the sheriff, Carl. Neither Carl nor Beaux are fond of each other. Carl also enjoys tormenting Pemon. It is revealed that Mary-Louise left Beaux for Carl when Carl threatened to take her family's property away. When Carl's father is killed in the line of duty, his son takes his place; it isn't long before Carl learns Mary-Louise has been having an affair with Beaux, and he uses his new authority to put Pemon behind bars on false change as a way of punishing Beaux.

Main cast

as Beauxregard "Beaux" Dupuis *

as Pemon Dupuis *

as Marie-Louise LeBauve * Jeremy Davidson as Carl LeBauve *

as "T-Boy" Trahan *

as Sheriff Kline LeBauve

Hurricane Rita

Three weeks after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

hit Louisiana,

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

hit the Little Chenier the actual place of most filming and the various

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

used for filming. Virtually all of the sets and locations used in the film were destroyed, leaving many locals homeless. The film is believed to be the only known footage of the area.

Bethany Ashton Bethany Ashton Wolf is an American film director and screenwriter. Wolf is the writer and director of ''Forever My Girl'' (2018), and was one of the writers of ''Don's Plum'', a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire which has been pr ...

and her family set up a non-profit organization calle
Rita Remembered
to rebuild the communities and help those in need, who were largely left out of the eventual help offered to victims of Katrina. The charity is unique in that Ashton and the fellow creators invite people to correspond directly with them to find out exactly how their contributions were used.

Reviews

Patrick Sweeney, ''The Tempe Emerald Review'' (2007)

Price Savoie, ''Austin Texan Review'' (October 2006)

Betsy Tyson, ''Screen Spotlight'' (October 2006)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0758764, Little Chenier: A Cajun Story 2006 films 2000s English-language films