PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience, New Documentary from Michael Murphy Productions to Premiere at the Oscar®- qualifying 37th Annual New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) presented by Andscap October 22-27 

From the Birth of Rhythm & Blues to the Fight for Civil Rights, New Documentary Reveals the Powerful and Enduring Story of New Orleans’ Legendary Dew Drop Inn

NEW ORLEANS, LA — September 8, 2026 — Michael Murphy Productions announces the official selection of Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience for the 37th New Orleans Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere. The documentary explores the extraordinary legacy of the Dew Drop Inn, the legendary New Orleans hotel and music venue founded by Black entrepreneur Frank Painia in 1939.

A story of music, Black entrepreneurship, civil rights, resistance, and resilience, the film reveals how a New Orleans music venue became a catalyst for cultural and social change. Known simply as “The Drop,” the Dew Drop Inn was more than a legendary hotel and nightclub: it became an incubator of rhythm & blues, a gathering place that crossed racial and gender barriers, and a force for social change—challenging segregation and illuminating music’s role in the fight for civil rights. View the trailer of Dew Drop View the trailer of Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience.Inn — Resistance and Inn — Resistance and Resilience..

Director Michael Murphy and producer Cilista Eberle deliver a sweeping chronicle of the Dew Drop Inn, bringing to life the music, people, and social forces that made the legendary New Orleans venue an important part of American cultural history. The film captures the Dew Drop’s glory years as a premier stop on the famed Chitlin’ Circuit, where it helped nurture the careers of New Orleans artists such as Fats Domino, Roy Brown, Deacon John & the Ivories, Earl King, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint, while welcoming such national legends as Bobby “Blue” Bland, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Little Richard, James Brown, Etta James and many others.

Beyond the music, Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience reveals the pivotal role of owner Frank Painia, a Black entrepreneur who challenged the racial barriers of Jim Crow New Orleans. Painia believed Black and white musicians should be free to perform together before integrated audiences. After repeated police raids and arrests, he enlisted renowned civil rights attorney A.P. Tureaud to challenge the city’s segregation laws, securing a legal victory that helped pave the way for the desegregation of New Orleans bars and restaurants. His story places the Dew Drop Inn at the powerful intersection of Black entrepreneurship, music, civil rights, and the struggle for equality. The film follows that legacy through the venue’s decline, preservation, and eventual rebirth, culminating in its 2024 reopening following an extensive restoration led by developer Curtis Doucette Jr.

Through contemporary interviews with Terence Blanchard, Delfeayo Marsalis, PJ Morton, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Reid Wick, Roger Lewis, Quiana Lynell, Tanyell Quian and others, alongside rare archival interviews with Art, Aaron and Charles Neville, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Earl Palmer, Cosimo Matassa, the film connects firsthand memories of “The Drop” with the larger history it helped shape. Propelled by music from Little Richard, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Fats Domino, the Neville Brothers, and others, the documentary weaves New Orleans music history into the struggle for civil rights through evocative archival footage and perspectives from cultural leaders including Kathe Hambrick of the Amistad Research Center and Brent Leggs, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

 “My journey making this film started about 4 years ago when I first met Curtis Doucette. He invited Cilista Eberle & me to join him as he showed us the ongoing renovation of the Dew Drop. I found his integrity, commitment & passion to preserve the landmark venue inspiring.” states Michael Murphy. Adding, “As I researched the history, I came to better understand the Dew Drop's importance during the struggle for civil rights and the fight to end Jim Crow. This film is a story of an iconic New Orleans venue that reflected how Black American's fight for constitutional rights helped shape legal and human rights that benefit all American's today.”

Producer Cilista Eberle adds “At a time when segregation defined New Orleans, Black entrepreneurship created spaces where music flourished, barriers were challenged, and community became a form of resistance—placing the Dew Drop Inn at the powerful intersection of the rise of rhythm and blues, civil rights, and the fight for integration.”

Brent Leggs, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, observes in the film, “The work of preserving historic places like the Dew Drop is critically important in this moment, because I believe that more Americans want to reconcile our racist past.” Adding, “The National Trust is honored to help uplift historic places that can inspire all Americans and expand our national narrative.”

The New Orleans premiere of Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience at the 37th New Orleans Film Festival brings the story back to the city—and the community—where this history was made. The homecoming offers New Orleans audiences an opportunity to rediscover a landmark whose influence reaches from the birth of rhythm & blues to the struggle for civil rights, and to reflect on what its legacy means today. 

Initial Funding generously provided by the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund.  The producer also thanks all the funders - more information available at www.mmptv.com

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SCREENING INFORMATION

Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience - 37th New Orleans Film Festival
Tickets/Information:  neworleansfilmsociety.org      

  • Tier 2 All Access Passes are now available to purchase (with prices increasing by $50 on September 3), with individual public tickets on sale September 21 for NOFS Members and September 24 for non-members. 
  • The Unlimited Film Package, Student + Teacher Passes and Virtual Passes will be available to purchase on September 3. New this year is the Unlimited Film Package (also launching September 3), giving guests the opportunity to attend unlimited NOFF screenings for only $99 ($85 for NOFS members, and included with Scene Stealer Membership).

#NOFF2026    @neworleansfilmsociety

ABOUT THE FILM

Dew Drop Inn — Resistance and Resilience tells the story of Frank Painia and the New Orleans hotel and music venue that became symbols of resistance and resilience during the struggle for civil rights. A musical hub, Chitlin’ Circuit landmark and gathering place for the Black community during segregation, the Dew Drop Inn helped nurture generations of artists while challenging the racial barriers of its time. The film explores the enduring intersection of music, Black entrepreneurship, civil rights and cultural preservation. The film was made in association with WYES.

PRESS QUOTE

“An unheralded tale of living, breathing history, "The Dew Drop Inn" illustrates how a humble and welcoming space became a crucial, dynamic hub for creativity, culture, and community—as the great Allen Toussaint calls it, a "switchboard"—and why the preservation of our often-overlooked street-level stories is so essential.”   Alan Light- Emmy Award-winning music journalist.  Former Editor-in-Chief of Vibe and Spin magazine and longtime contributor to Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

ABOUT MICHAEL MURPHY

Emmy Award-winning producer, director and writer Michael Murphy has spent more than 35 years documenting the music and cultural heritage of New Orleans through film, television, radio and digital media. He produced and directed the critically acclaimed feature documentary Make It Funky! and the award-winning Up From The Streets — New Orleans: The City of Music, which premiered at the 30th New Orleans Film Festival. In 2021, he produced and directed Irma Thomas: My Life in Music, which aired nationally on PBS. Murphy is a voting member of the Recording Academy and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

ABOUT CILISTA EBERLE

Producer Cilista Eberle joined Michael Murphy Productions in 1992 following a decade working in film and television. Her producing credits include Make It Funky!, Up From The Streets — New Orleans: The City of Music, Irma Thomas: My Life in Music, Bayou Country Superfest and National Geographic Explorer’s Can The Gulf Survive. Her work has earned multiple Telly Awards and an Emmy.

MEDIA CONTACT

Laura B. Tennyson
Email: lauratennyson_2@msn.com
Phone: [504) 319-9943 

Press materials, film stills are available here. Interview opportunities and advance screening access are available upon request.