Shreveport native to debut Cajun murder mystery film | Food & Entertainment

A rural Cajun community reckons with a 30-year-old double murder in the film “Pointe Noire.” 

“Pointe Noire” features Québec film star Roy Dupuis and Myriam Cyr, along with Michael Bienvenu and Zachary Richard.

In the movie, filmmaker and crawfisherman Louis Leger (Roy Dupuis) and criminal defense attorney Dolores Arceneaux (Myriam Cyr) join forces in the Cajun prairie community of Pointe Noire to save the life of Joel Richard (Michael Bienvenu), a falsely accused man on Louisiana’s death row who faces imminent execution.

The murder-mystery movie reflects the life experiences of the couple who wrote and produced the film.

Rebecca Hudsmith, a Shreveport native, served as Federal Public Defender for the Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana until retiring and returning to private practice in December. She has argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court — and won.

A proud Cajun and Eunice native, Pat Mire is an award-winning documentary and feature filmmaker as well as the founder of the Cinema on the Bayou film festival in Lafayette.

Hudsmith told The Shreveport-Bossier Advocate, “When COVID came along, and Pat and I were stuck here at the house with each other, he said, ‘Let’s do what we’ve been talking about for a while.'” So together they wrote the screenplay for “Pointe Noire.”

“So we really did make it something that’s real, you know — it may be fictitious, but it’s not like we had to learn about it right? It’s also close to our hearts, you know, and I think that comes through in the film, and people appreciate it as a result,” Hudsmith said. About the actors, Mire said, “They’re trying to act, talk and walk like us through the film.”

The film has received positive reviews from film critics, including this one by Bill Arceneaux, Independent Film Critic, Rotten Tomatoes approved. “Director Pat Mire, one of the kings of Hollywood South independent filmmaking, has made a movie that succeeds at answering questions about the Cajun people while doing the business of entertainment — a feat worthy of beaucoup accolades.”

Hudsmith and Mire live in Lafayette and also have a place in Shreveport. Mire said, “Where we are in Shreveport is a great, great place for writing. It’s like being in the woods. Hudsmith added, “It’s inspirational for us. When we get up there we do feel inspired to be creative.”

The world premiere of the film was in Canada and it has shown at several film festivals in the U.S. as well. 

“While Pointe Noire has opened in impressive theaters to large audiences in both the U.S. and Canada,” Mire said in a news release, “I am particularly excited about sharing my movie with audiences at the lovely Robinson Film Center and at the historic Queen Cinema, where I grew up watching movies some 50-plus years ago and which, no doubt, inspired me to become the filmmaker that I am today.”

The film will show for a week in Shreveport at the Robinson Film Center. Mire and Hudsmith will attend the screening and have a Q&A on opening night, April 3. 

Next, the film will play for a week at the Queen Cinema in Eunice, Louisiana, the hometown of Mire. They will attend the screening there on the evening of April 11.

For more information on daily showtimes and to purchase tickets in Shreveport, visit the Robinson Film Center website or call box office at (318) 459-4122.