Getting Back to Abnormal

Photo by Andrew Kolker.

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Feb 23, 2014

(Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian, Paul Stekler, United States, 2013, 92 min)

Visiting filmmaker Paul Stekler!

New Orleans' long history of political dysfunction gets a new lease on life when Stacy Head, a polarizing white woman, wins a seat on the city council after Katrina. Four years later, she needs to get black votes to be re-elected. Getting Back to Abnormal follows the odd couple of Head and her irrepressible political advisor, Barbara Lacen-Keller, as they try to navigate New Orleans' complicated political scene. Featuring provocative commentary from New Orleans cultural figures like David Simon (Treme, The Wire).

  • Join us after the screening for an in-depth conversation with visiting filmmaker Paul Stekler!

ABOUT PAUL STEKLER

Paul Stekler’s documentaries about American politics have won numerous national honors including multiple Emmys, Peabodys and du-Pont-Columbia Journalism awards, and have all been aired nationally on PBS.  

His films include Sundance Special Jury Prize winner George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods on Fire (directed and produced with Dan McCabe), Vote for Me: Politics in America (a two night national special directed and produced with Louie Alvarez and Andy Kolker), Last Man Standing: Politics Texas Style (which aired on PBS’s P.O.V. series), two of the Eyes on the Prize civil rights series films, and Frontline’s The Choice 2008, about the Obama-McCain election race, which he co-produced and wrote with director Michael Kirk.  

Dr. Stekler has a doctorate in American politics and worked as political pollster in Louisiana.  He co-wrote Native American novelist James Welch’s non-fiction book Killing Custer, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.  He lives in Austin where he teaches documentary film production, is the Chair of the Radio-Television-Film Dept. at the University of Texas, and also writes about politics and film.

Getting Back to Abnormal - Trailer from CNAM on Vimeo.

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