Glen A. Pitre Collection

Collection 284

Pitre, Glen A. (1955– ). Collection, 1981–1986, n.d.

1 foot, 2 ½ inches; Oversize; Original film: 3 Reels

Glen Anthony Pitre is a motion picture screenwriter and director from Cut Off, LA. He worked his way through Harvard by fishing shrimp each summer. By age 25, American Film magazine dubbed him “father of the Cajun cinema” as his low-budget, French dialect “gumbo westerns” broke house records in bayou country theaters. With the help of the Sundance Institute, his internationally-lauded 1986 film Belizaire the Cajun became his first English-language production. Since then Pitre’s works in a variety of media, frequently in collaboration with his wife Michelle Benoit, often about life in his native Louisiana wetlands, have earned him numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate and a knighthood from France. In a 2006 book, America’s most famous film critic, Roger Ebert, acclaimed Pitre “a legendary American regional director.”

This collection consists of extras’ contracts, director’s notes, script drafts, photographs, and promotional material all pertaining to Glen Pitre’s movie Belizaire the Cajun. It includes numerous drafts of the script, including a portion of a draft in French, and handwritten pieces of drafts. The film used mostly local Acadiana talent for work as extras. There are also director’s notes on camera angles, as well as hand drawn set maps. Media coverage of Glen Pitre and Belizaire the Cajun and photographs from the movie are also included.

Glen Pitre donated this collection. The 35 mm film reels were originally donated to the University Media Center. Later, Center Director Jean T. Kreamer transferred the reels to the University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection.

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