Four days. One dead writer. One live night.

A restored cut of Retracing the Footsteps of David Goodis plays start to finish — the grade rebuilt, the covers rescanned, the sound put back together from nothing so you can actually hear the man’s words over the rain.

Then we talk about who Goodis was and why France still calls him a master while the country that made him mostly forgot. After that, actors read a scene from UNDERBELLY, a new noir — a cab driver, a runaway, a gun, and rain that will not quit.

That combination is the kind of audience-first programming a New Orleans filmmaker can build around a documentary: a finished film, a real conversation, and a next project that gives people a reason to stay in the room. Bring your own bourbon.