We know. It's been quiet.

Since the pandemic, Failed Films has been a November ritual—a gathering place where sex worker, queer, and misfit communities come together to bear witness to each other's art. This year, there was no LA show. No call for submissions. No familiar chaos of curation and last-minute renders and glitter on the venue floor.

Here is the thing, projects of the heart are subject to the capacity of the people donating their hearts to them. And this year, we needed to step back for a little bit and reimagine what was, is, and could be. After much reflection, we decided to dare to fail and bring the failed films experience to a new town and a new community of queers, misfits, sex workers, artists, and hopefully new friends and family in New Orleans. 

Here's what we believe: at the heart of Failed Films is giving people a container to risk failing. Making something that is not for sale, something that is of the heart, and watching it with your friends and community. That last part matters. Community isn't just who shows up—it's whose work is on the walls, whose films fill the screen, whose vulnerability we're all holding together in the dark. We are honored and humbled by the prospect of building the trust of a new community of artists. We want to center their works in this show. We want Failed Films New Orleans to belong to New Orleans. This is why we have chosen to narrow the scope of our call for submissions to New Orleans-based Artists for this season.  But we have not forgotten our bay area roots or our beloved community in LA or the people from all over the world that have somehow heard of us and trusted us with their works. You are and always will be what makes Failed Films and we can't wait to come back and do it all over again with you.

But till then, we need your help: if you have connections in NOLA—friends, lovers, exes, collaborators, send them our way. Encourage them to submit. Tell them what Failed Films has meant to you. Help us find the artists who need this container as much as we once did.