Beasts of the Southern Wild could be the film that gives Hollywood back its soul. The film is nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the youngest Best Actress nomination ever in Quvenzhané Wallis. Shot on a shoe-string budget for $1.8 million (to compare, Life of Pi cost $120 million), the film stars locals from the Terrebonne Parish neighborhood of Monegut where the co-writers lived for a year before the production of the film.
Anecdotes abound about how the film’s crew and talent were immersed in the creation of the film, and nobody likes a good story like Hollywood. Here’s hoping the Academy recognizes a truly unique and significant contribution to cinema.
- Terrebonne Parish– The Terrebonne Parish neighborhood of the city of Monegut in Louisiana was the principal filming location for the film Beasts of the Southern Wild.
- Buttermilk Drop Bakery and Café– This New Orleans café is owned and operated by Dwight Henry who played the father, Wink, in Beasts.
- Last Auroch Monument– The fantastical auroch creatures in Beasts really existed (although more bovine than porcine). This monument in Poland is dedicated to the now extinct species.
- Lascaux Cave Paintings– The co-writer/director for Beasts, Benh Zeitlin, was inspired by the Lascaux’s “Great Hall of Bulls” to incorporate the aurochs into the film. The drawings are also depicted on Miss Bathsheba’s tattoo.