Private Project

Roots of Fire

Amidst shuttered rural dance clubs and encroaching globalization, five award-winning musicians push against stereotypes of the American South and move the music of their ancestors forward. But their fans are getting older and the language is fading away. Will their efforts be enough to save a dying community?

  • Abby Berendt Lavoi
    Director
  • Jeremey Lavoi
    Director
  • Abby Berendt Lavoi
    Writer
  • Jeremey Lavoi
    Writer
  • Abby Berendt Lavoi
    Producer
  • Jeremey Lavoi
    Producer
  • Wilson Savoy
    Key Cast
  • Joel Savoy
    Key Cast
  • Kelli Jones
    Key Cast
  • Kristi Guillory
    Key Cast
  • Jourdan Thibodeaux
    Key Cast
  • Jeremey Lavoi
    Director of Photography
  • Abby Berendt Lavoi
    Editor
  • Jeremey Lavoi
    Editor
  • Stephen Thorpe
    Sound Designer
  • Pine Leaf Boys
    Composer
  • Feufollet
    Composer
  • Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs
    Composer
  • Bonsoir Catin
    Composer
  • T'Monde
    Composer
  • Anna Laura Edmiston
    Composer
  • Kelli Jones
    Composer
  • Kristi Guillory
    Composer
  • Wilson Savoy
    Composer
  • Jourdan Thibodeaux
    Composer
  • Joel Savoy
    Composer
  • Roddie Romero
    Composer
  • Felipe Grosso
    Animation
  • Cabong Studios
    Animation
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Culture, Debut, Educational, Female Director, Female Producer, Low Budget, Music, Live Music
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 23 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    75,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Shooting Format:
    Sony
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Oxford Film Festival
    Oxford
    United States
    March 23, 2022
    World Premiere
  • San Francisco Documentary Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
    June 2, 2022
    Californian Premiere
  • Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
    Providence
    United States
    August 14, 2022
    East Coast Premiere
  • Lunenburg Doc Fest
    Lunenburg
    Canada
    September 28, 2022
    Canadian Premiere
  • Hot Springs International Documentary Festival

    United States
    October 16, 2022
  • New Orleans Film Festival

    United States
    November 4, 2022
  • Lunenburg Doc Fest
    Lunenburg
    Canada
    September 22, 2022
  • Cinema On The Bayou Film Festival
    Louisiana
    United States
    January 25, 2023
  • Poppy Jasper International Film Festival
    california
    United States
    April 12, 2023
  • Queens World Film Festival

    United States
    November 20, 2022
Director Biography - Abby Berendt Lavoi, Jeremey Lavoi

Abby Berendt Lavoi is an award-winning Director, Producer, Writer, mother, cancer- survivor, and joyful ball of sarcasm. She has received honors and awards from the New York Television Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, OXIFF, SIFF, Telly Awards, PromaxBDA, SFIndieFest, and many others. Her television credits include MTV/MTV2/MTVu, TV Land, Nick@Nite, and Current TV. Since 2008, she has successfully run Lavoi Creative, creating content for Pandora, Google, Netflix, Autodesk, and many more.

Jeremey Lavoi is a Director and DP with more than a decade of experience working in television, documentary film, and the digital space. He is an experienced Writer and Producer. He believes in the power of storytelling to illuminate, educate, and entertain. Since 2008, he has successfully run Lavoi Creative, creating content for several tech giants. His television credits include BRAVO, History Channel, Science Channel, Discovery Health, CNBC, Current TV, MTVu, MTV2, and TechTV (G4).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director, Jeremey Lavoi: When I left Louisiana for the Bay Area in 2002, there wasn’t a thought in my head about preserving my culture. Yet, like a lot of other cajuns in the diaspora, I yearned for the smells, tastes, and rhythms of my homeland. For some of us, it takes leaving Louisiana to know what we left behind. It took me over a decade to find myself living in Louisiana again, this time in New Orleans. Now I’m not an angsty teen looking to leave the South. I’m a father raising a little Nola girl less than half a mile from where her great-grandpa grew up. I want her stomping through the swamps, pulling up crawfish traps with her grandpa like I did with mine. I want her to know about her French Louisiana heritage and why it’s still important. I didn’t grow up loving cajun music, but my grandparents did, and now so do I. I want to reclaim that heritage using the best tool I have at my disposal, storytelling. My goal is to teach others why they should love Louisiana like I do. Roots of Fire is about a flaming resurgence of music and culture that has been burning all along... just beneath the surface.

Director, Abby Berendt Lavoi: Thirteen years ago I married a Southern Louisianian. I’ve consumed this state and immersed myself in the culture ever since. Prior to this time, my knowledge of this culture was shaped, sadly, by typical stereotypes. For the past decade I’ve learned that these people are consistently maligned in the media, portrayed as backwoods “swamp people” on reality shows, or typecast as “typical southern racists.” Suffice to say, on this journey I’ve met some of the most progressive and fascinating people; from a hip hop accordion-playing university teacher to a Zydeco fitness dance instructor, if you think this is an outdated culture… you’re wrong.
What drew me to this project was young people dancing to the music, carefree, and alive. It was pure and authentic. I didn’t know anything like this still existed in America. Maybe after living in big cities for over a decade I was jaded, but these kids were not dancing ironically. They were legitimately enjoying themselves, two-stepping to accordion, rubboard, and fiddle music. These kids were keeping a culture alive whether they realized it or not. To me, that’s the beauty and strength of it. When young people take it up on their own, live it, and love it, it truly is a living culture. What I hope to do with Roots of Fire is share that feeling, that community, and that love with audiences around the world.