About
Made from the inside.
A Place Called Desire is the story of the community filmmaker Leonard Smith III grew up in, told with the neighbors who raised him.
The filmmaker
Leonard Smith III
Leonard Smith III is a documentarian. Since 1975 he has been involved in every aspect of historical research, from genealogy, photography and technology to storytelling, filmmaking and music.
His company, LS3 Studios, has produced award-winning documentaries about musicians, institutions and family histories. A Place Called Desire is the story of the community Leonard grew up in during the 1960s and ’70s in New Orleans.
He has a deep and abiding love to “educate, entertain, and inspire others to tell their story.”
Why this film
The stories you heard were told by outsiders.
“We will present this film from a unique vantage point — that of insiders.”
Since 2008 the project has interviewed more than sixty people about their lives in the Desire community. They describe a place that is not the story the press often told. There were struggles, many struggles, but there were also strengths and positives in a tight-knit community of thousands.
Telling that story took years. Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina washed away many of the photographs that would have helped, so supporters shared what personal images they had, and the rest had to be licensed from archives one image and one second of footage at a time.
“Nobody can dim the light which shines from within,” wrote Maya Angelou. For this film, that is the perfect metaphor for Desire.
The journey
From first interview to PBS
- 1960s – 1970s
Leonard Smith III grows up in the Desire community of New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward.
- 1975
Begins a lifelong practice of historical research: genealogy, photography, technology, storytelling, filmmaking and music.
- 2005
Hurricane Katrina floods the Upper 9th Ward. Many family photographs of the community are lost.
- 2008
The first interviews for A Place Called Desire are recorded.
- 2015
Leonard discusses the project on WWL-TV’s The 504 and on Nurturing Our Roots.
- 2020
Official selection at the New Orleans Film Festival. Silver Telly and Gold AVA Digital awards.
- 2021
Best Documentary and Audience Jury Award at the Black Film Festival of New Orleans. Louisiana Heritage Media Award.
- 2022
Broadcast on WYES-PBS on February 7.
- 2023
Screened in the 8th Annual African American Film Series at the Flint Institute of Arts. NGS Culture Conversation.
The people behind it
A community production
The storytellers
More than sixty residents and former residents of Desire, Gordon Plaza and the Upper 9th Ward, including Cyril M. Duplessis Sr., Albert Dugue, Evangeline Ishem, Iona Boseman, Winnifred Magee, Dr. Roslyn Johnson Smith, Leslie Smith Everage, Terry Smith and Sidney Duplessis Jr.
The writers
Winnifred Magee, Leslie Smith Everage and Larry “Shine” Washington keep the conversation going through the Memories of Desire essays.
The supporters
Individuals and organizations who contributed photographs, time and funds. Their names appear in the film’s credits.
LS3 Studios, LLC