NOLA:
THE BEGINNING
AFTER AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER WITH A CENTURIES-OLD AND MYSTICAL FIGURE, A YOUNG, DETERMINED, SLAVE MOTHER WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO SECURE THE LIFE OF HER NEWBORN BABY.
THE WORLD OF
NOLA:
THE BEGINNING
THE SLAVE
THE FIELD ANGEL
AND
The Mother
"As a Black woman, I was inspired to write this story after a first-time visit to the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans in 2018. I was immediately struck by a memorial called Coming Home, anchored by a bronze statue of a Black Angel carrying a baby to Heaven. I wanted to create a visual story to give imaginary insight into this Angel and the powerful agency she held over whose black life to sustain or to sacrifice."
-
- Mildred Marie Langford
This film’s primary goal is to explore the perpetual silence of the Black female voice. As the sole bearers of generational trauma, pain, and emotional scarcity, Black women are given few spaces to lay these heavy burdens down; we are expected to carry on unaffected. Nola embodies a lineage of Black women denied autonomy over their own bodies—from slavery to suffrage to the Civil Rights movement to #MeToo—and Black mothers fighting to protect their children from a violent and racist society. The film also explores the inhumane treatment of Black life, linking 21st century brutality back to the 18th–19th centuries. The funeral of Nola’s nephew recalls the senseless shooting of twelve-year old Tamir Rice; the despicable atrocities of slavery echo in Nola’s present, when Black America battles to live without social, political, and economic injustices. We’ve cultivated and developed a country that in return refuses to acknowledge our presence, our voices, or our lives. This film aims to transform the viewer with a new outlook on the Black female presence, shedding light on put-upon expectations and asserting that our struggle be recognized.
PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS
Written, produced and starring Mildred Marie Langford.
Directed by Andi Chapman
This is a poetically visceral film about abuse that has been compounded 100 times over. *Domestic violence has increased by over 8% in the US since the shut down; lighting a fire to abuse at it's most intense level. Not only has the abuse brought the title character to the brink, it has made her rethink her life from the beginning where it started at 20, at 30 and now at 40.
Synopsis:
Isa and Stephan, who met in college, have been married for twenty-years; a marriage riddled with domestic violence. On the night of their twenty-first year anniversary, Isa is left no choice but to fight for her life. In a moment of mental escapism, she confronts the younger versions of herself, attempting to gain the deeper insight in to why she stayed and the freedom she so desperately seeks.
ABOUT THE WRITER
MEET MILDRED MARIE LANGFORD
Mildred Marie Langford is an LA based actress, writer, producer, content creator and Founder and CEO of the new faith-based production company Little Black Pearl Production. Mildred most recently completed her first solo indie project, which she wrote, executive produced and led called The Three Phases of Isa, which centers on a young women's marriage that's been riddled with domestic violence. She is also the co-creator, co-writer, and co-executive producer of the six-episode dramedy series Commune.
Mildred’s other endeavors include Co-Founder and Co-Chair of The Black Creators Collective; a non-profit organization that brings artistic knowledge and resources to under-served communities in the South Los Angeles area, while also creating and developing content and opportunities for artists of color. The BCC was recently awarded a grant from The Black Seed to further support their new initiative; A-Squared: August and Artists. A two-tiered initiative aimed at honoring the past and welcoming the future. She is also a member of Support Black Theatre. A grass-roots organization formed for the development, enrichment and promotion of Black art, Black artists, and Black audiences in Los Angeles.
MORE FROM MILDRED MARIE
JUSTICE FOR EZRA
Written, produced and starring Mildred Marie Langford. Co-Starring Kathryn Lockhart. Directed by Jon Snow
JUSTICE FOR EZRA is a short film that follows the unraveling of a mother that has tragically lost her son and how she struggles to take matters into her own hands to get the rightful justice her son deserves. This piece was inspired by the senseless death of Ahmaud Arbery and is also dedicated to the many, many more we have unjustly lost.
To honor the raw and gutteral reality of JUSTICE FOR EZRA, the short film was captured via zoom.
TICKER: A G-Thang
Amsterdam World international Film Festival 2021 "Best Series" Winner
Co-produced by Mildred Marie Langford
An homage to the celebrated masters of irony, O. Henry and Rod Serling, Ticker is an anthology series that explores the human condition. Told via rotating genres, each story unfolds within a world confined to a space often like that of a hospital waiting room - where only you and the four walls are witness to the visitors' plight - and their inevitable twisted fates.
JOIN THE NOLA AMBASSADORS
To help fund the production of Nola: The Beginning please click the donate button below. 100% of all donations go to production costs of the film. All monetary donations of any size are welcomed and appreciated.
