When Mardi Gras parades in 2021 were canceled because of coronavirus, it represented the lowest point of the pandemic for the city's music, food and culture communities. "Different Mardi Gras" pairs footage from unusually quiet streets of New Orleans and interviews with several of the city's culture bearers reflecting on the pandemic's effects on their lives.

Director's Biography:

A COTB alum, Alejandro de los Rios is a Nicaraguan-born, half-Cuban, half-Venezuelan filmmaker based in New Orleans. For over a decade, he's worked as an independent filmmaker, writing and directing several short films, music videos and commercials. He directed and starred in the short "Jalapeño Andretti" which premiered at the 2017 Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival and was named to the 2017 New Orleans Film Festival's Emerging Voices Program. Alejandro spent two years as a Video Producer with the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, where he created content for the teams' digital properties including a 9-part documentary series on the life of Saints quarterback Drew Brees.