New Orleans Public Library Bookmobile in Desire.
LS3 Studios presents · A documentary by Leonard Smith III
A Place Called Desire
“The community that care forgot” — told, for the first time, by the people who lived there.
Awards & Festival Selections
- WinnerBest DocumentaryBlack Film Festival of New Orleans · 2021
- WinnerAudience Jury AwardBlack Film Festival of New Orleans · 2021
- WinnerLouisiana Heritage Media AwardLouisiana Trust for Historic Preservation · 2021
- Silver WinnerTelly Award2020
- Gold WinnerAVA Digital Awards2020
- Award of RecognitionThe Impact DOCS AwardsDocumentary Feature · 2020
- FinalistSan Diego Black Film FestivalBest Documentary · 2020
- Official SelectionNew Orleans Film Festival & San Francisco Black Film Festival2020
The Film
The story you heard was told by outsiders. This one comes from home.
A Place Called Desire traces one of New Orleans’ earliest subdivisions for Black homeownership — and one of America’s largest housing developments — through the people who grew up there.
There were struggles, many struggles. But there were also churches and schools, food trucks and parks, birthday parties in shaded backyards, and a tight-knit community of thousands that shaped citizens, athletes and professionals who became the backbone of the city.
Since 2008, filmmaker Leonard Smith III has recorded more than sixty residents and former residents — through Hurricane Betsy, the Agriculture Street Landfill, Hurricane Katrina and the rebuilding of “the New Desire.”
Six chapters, seven decades
From the promise of a better life to the New Desire.
- OpenerA Place Called Desire
Who tells a community’s story?
- 1940s–1950sA Better Life
Homeownership and a new development rise in the Upper 9th Ward.
- 1960s–1970sIt Takes a Village to Raise a Child
Schools, churches, bookmobiles and neighbors who raised everyone’s children.
- 1980s–1990sThe Struggle Is Real
Neglect, hardship and a community holding on.
- ReckoningThe Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Hard truths, told with a gentle touch.
- 2000s“The New Desire”
After Katrina — what remains, and what returns.
Contrary to what the public was led to believe, there was a sense of normalcy growing up in the community of Desire.Leslie Smith Everage
Voices of Desire
Hear it from the people who lived it.
Interview clips from the archive behind the film. Select a story to play it, or see all voices.
- Piety
- Pleasure
- Benefit
- Abundance
- Industry
- Desire
Memories of Desire
Essays from the neighborhood.
First-person stories from former residents: holidays, summers, Friday nights and the fights worth winning. All 12 essays
Featured essay · Winnifred Magee
A Street Called Desire
Piety, Pleasure, Benefit, Abundance: what the street names of a childhood promised, what they hid, and what they still mean.
A Different Kind of Summer
Spending time in Bassano this summer couldn’t be any more different from my childhood in Desire, especially…
Justice · Leslie Smith EverageGordon Plaza: When We Fight, We Win
Finally, a monetary victory win for the people of Gordon Plaza. Justice prevailed but the journey was not…
Holidays · Leslie Smith EverageStepping Into Easter
Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. The flowers are blooming, the grass is greener, and the…
Holidays · Leslie Smith EverageThe Christmas Fruitcake
The Christmas Fruitcake made its appearance at my childhood home every year. It was my Dad’s tradition, and…
Childhood · Winnifred MageeSummer Fun
It is hard, as well as unfair, to stereotype, or form generalities, concerning the summers of families in the…
Food · Leslie Smith EverageFriday Night Feast
It’s Friday Night and I peeped inside of my refrigerator and thought how my Dad would create the best meals.…
Press
“Essential viewing for anyone interested in New Orleans’ cultural history and in Black struggle in the city and America. I can’t recommend this movie enough.”Antigravity Magazine
“There’s no understating its value when it comes to collecting previously untold stories, which together add a new, personal layer … to the city’s 20th-century history.”
NOLA.com, 2020 New Orleans Film Festival coverageInterviews & broadcasts
- Broadcast on WYES-PBS, February 7, 2022Broadcast
- Desire, Louisiana — Tripod: New Orleans at 300WWNO · NPR
- Discussing the filmWWL-TV
- A Place Called Desire on The 504TV
- A Place Called Desire with Bernice BennettBlogTalkRadio
- Conversation with Leonard Smith IIINGS
- The Story Behind the StandoffFeature
- All articles & reviewsArchive →
The Filmmaker
Leonard Smith III grew up in Desire.
A documentarian since 1975, Leonard has worked across every part of historical storytelling — genealogy, photography, technology, filmmaking and music. Through LS3 Studios he has produced award-winning documentaries about musicians, institutions and family histories.
A Place Called Desire is the story of the community he grew up in during the 1960s and ’70s — made from the inside, with the neighbors who raised him.
“Educate, entertain, and inspire others to tell their story.”
Bring Desire to your community