ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
Familiar ground: Louisiana native returns home to film ‘Lost Bayou’
Hunter Burke grew up in the Louisiana bayou.
As an actor, he’s played a variety of roles. Yet when it came to working on his first feature film, he wanted it to be representative of his hometown culture.
And “Lost Bayou” was born.
The film will screen on Thursday, Oct. 17, as part of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, which starts Wednesday, Oct. 16, and ends Sunday, Oct. 20.
The festival – in its 11th year – will open with “Just Mercy,” starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson, and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Violet Crown Cinema in Santa Fe.
The festival’s centerpiece presentation, Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, will screen Friday, Oct. 18, at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe.
The festival closes with Ken Loach’s “Sorry We Missed You” on Sunday, Oct. 20. “We are elated to present three very different explorations of the human experience as our marquee presentations, with stellar performances, very real drama, and awards buzz, these titles will dazzle film lovers,” festival artistic director Jacques Paisner says.
The independent film follows Gal, who is helplessly adrift in her own life – trapped in a cycle of addiction and estranged from her young son.
But after a mysterious call from her estranged father, Gal journeys into the Atchafalaya Basin to check in on her aging father, who has been living seclusion on a houseboat as a Cajun faith healer.
Once on the houseboat, Gal finds the body of a mysterious young woman perfectly preserved and tucked into his bed.
Upon further investigation, Gal discovers that her father, delusional and bereaved, believes the mystery woman’s corpse is that of his late wife – who died three years earlier.
Gal reluctantly joins her father on his journey across the basin to bury the body in the family plot.
It’s a journey Gal never imagined.
Burke says the movie, which filmed for 13 days in Louisiana, has been on the festival circuit.
“The response we’ve been getting is amazing,” Burke says. “This was a film from a group of friends that have known each other for 10 years. We always wanted to do a project together, and it’s great to see it resonating with audiences.”
By Adrian Gomez