The film festival gets under way in the Crescent City, which has become a hub for film production.

It may have been the biggest opening night the New Orleans Film Festival has ever seen. A legendary director who shot a film about a Southern president was honored by his leading actor: at the premiere of LBJ, Woody Harrelson, along with New Orleans Film Society director Jolene Pinder, presented director Rob Reiner with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Asked why he liked to film in New Orleans, Reiner quipped: “Because I like to eat,” and then continued to praise the city’s tax credit system and the professionalism of the crew before going on a rampage about Donald Trump, calling him a lunatic among other unflattering names.

Rob Reiner walks the red carpet at opening night of the NOFF

Craig Mulcah

Woody Harrelson hilariously described his first meeting with the director: “I was at the blackjack table in Las Vegas. I had a 15 and the guy sitting next to me said, ‘hit it again!’ It was Rob. And I said: ‘No, I’m not gonna hit it again, what if I get a 7?’ and I didn’t and a 5 came up. I would have had a 20. I never thought Rob would hire me after that because clearly, I can’t take direction.”

It is no coincidence that LBJ premiered at the NOFF. It was here 52 years ago, on October 9, 1964, that Lyndon Johnson gave a rousing campaign speech at the Jung Hotel, pushing a liberal agenda that included social security, education and equality. He also addressed racism at the beginning of the civil rights movement in the heart of Goldwater-country by stating that there may be many hardcore white supremacists even among the Southern Democrats. He appealed to their conscience and said that they knew exactly that they were on the wrong side of their own Christian beliefs and that it was high time to change: “We have a Constitution and we have a Bill of Rights, and we have the law of the land, and two-thirds of the Democrats in the Senate voted for it and three-fourths of the Republicans. I signed it, and I am going to enforce it, and I am going to observe it, and I think any man that is worthy of the high office of President is going to do the same thing.”

Guests formed a Second Line Parade (very typical for New Orleans!) from the Orpheum Theater down Canal Street with the Kinfolk Brass Band playing When the Saints Go Marching In. The afterparty took place at Dickie Brennan’s famous Palace Cafe, where guests were greeted at the curb by the wait staff waving white hankies. Local VIPs like former New Orleans Film Society director and now honorary chair Alexa Georges, Chris Lee and Luke Tennie delighted in the Creole cuisine and mingled with Rob Reiner and wife Michele, Woody Harrelson, Richard Schiff and Westworld star James Marsden who also received the festival’s Career Achievement Award. And New Orleans once again proved that it is the best city in the U.S. when it comes to throwing a party.

The festival line-up is impressive: aside from rumored awards fare such as Lion, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight, there are gems like John Waters gloriously grotesque film Multiple Maniacs which was unavailable for decades, and features from first-time writers and directors. The selection spans all genres, colors and social classes.

There is also lots of local flavor. Documentaries range from Da Parish about three Hurricane Katrina survivors, to the story of New Orleans’ Covenant House that provides services for the homeless in Shelter. From the city’s legendary first black football team St. Augustine in Before the West Coast to the life of Nola’s legendary restaurateur Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table. In NOFF’s Made-in-Louisiana section Sean Brosnan presents his feature debut as a director with My Father, Die, starring his own famous dad Pierce. The festival will close with the recently restored version, of Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust on Oct 20th.