Documentary backdrop image for By Invitation Only (2006)

Documentary backdrop image for By Invitation Only (2006)

200656 minPGdocumentary

By Invitation Only

200656 minPGdocumentary

New Orleans' Carnival season is explored through Rebecca Snedeker's lens, highlighting the pageantry of Mardi Gras and the racial exclusivity of elite societies.

Genres

Director

Rebecca Snedeker

Synopsis

New Orleans' Carnival season is explored through Rebecca Snedeker's lens, highlighting the pageantry of Mardi Gras and the racial exclusivity of elite societies.

People

Rebecca Snedekerdirector

Rebecca Snedekerwriter

Isaac Webbwriter

Julie Gustafsonwriter

Tim Watsonwriter

Synopsis

Rebecca Snedeker stands at the heart of New Orleans' Carnival season, where elite Carnival societies and debutante balls take center stage. Through her lens, she captures the pageantry of Mardi Gras while questioning the racial exclusivity that defines these traditions. Snedeker reflects on her own involvement in this world, prompting a deeper look at the roles individuals play within such insular communities. The film runs for 56 minutes and was released in 2006.

Awards & Festivals

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Inside Mardi Gras - New Orleans in a State of (Party) Emergency (2024)

Inside Mardi Gras - New Orleans in a State of (Party) Emergency

More than a million people fill the streets of New Orleans each year for Mardi Gras, which features 49 parades and 30,000 costumed riders.

Inside Mardi Gras - New Orleans in a State of (Party) Emergency

Scam City: New Orleans - Organized Crime during Mardi Gras Street Carnival (2022)

Scam City: New Orleans - Organized Crime during Mardi Gras Street Carnival

During Mardi Gras, a high-stakes gambling racket linked to organized crime scams tourists out of thousands of dollars in rigged games.

Scam City: New Orleans - Organized Crime during Mardi Gras Street Carnival

Legendary Cities : New Orleans And its French heritage (2018)

Legendary Cities : New Orleans And its French heritage

New Orleans, Louisiana, is a cultural hotbed known for Mardi Gras and its French heritage.

Legendary Cities : New Orleans And its French heritage

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun (2022)

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun

Thousands of happy drunks crowd into the French Quarter during Mardi Gras, but Cajun celebrations offer a distinctly different and vibrant experience.

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun

America's French Colony: A History of New Orleans (2021)

America's French Colony: A History of New Orleans

A 20-kilometer stretch of keys makes New Orleans one of the principal ports of the United States, reflecting its strategic location along the Mississippi.

America's French Colony: A History of New Orleans

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers (2025)

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers

In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, two drug dealers compete for tourist customers, one selling real drugs and the other selling counterfeit substances amid heightened police activity.

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19 (2021)

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19

Black-owned funeral homes in New Orleans have adapted traditional grieving practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing its disproportionate impact on their community.

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19

Celebration! | Ethnography Documentary | Full Movie (2024)

Celebration! | Ethnography Documentary | Full Movie

In Brooklyn, New York, America's largest Caribbean community celebrates its vibrant culture through an annual festival filled with music, color, and tradition.

Celebration! | Ethnography Documentary | Full Movie

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite (2025)

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite

Yasmine Akram infiltrates the Côte d’Azur's elite circles, revealing the extravagant lifestyles and secret rituals of the billionaire class in Monte Carlo and Cannes.

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite

Explore By Invitation Only

People Awards FAQ

Browse more like this

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun (2022)

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun

Thousands of happy drunks crowd into the French Quarter during Mardi Gras, but Cajun celebrations offer a distinctly different and vibrant experience.

Mardi Gras Celebration in Cajun

No digital watch option in your country

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers (2025)

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers

In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, two drug dealers compete for tourist customers, one selling real drugs and the other selling counterfeit substances amid heightened police activity.

Mardi Gras Drug Dealers

No digital watch option in your country

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19 (2021)

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19

Black-owned funeral homes in New Orleans have adapted traditional grieving practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing its disproportionate impact on their community.

How New Orleans Funeral Homes Adapted to Covid-19

No digital watch option in your country

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite (2025)

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite

Yasmine Akram infiltrates the Côte d’Azur's elite circles, revealing the extravagant lifestyles and secret rituals of the billionaire class in Monte Carlo and Cannes.

Inside the Secret Rituals of the Billionaire Elite

No digital watch option in your country

Always for Pleasure (1978)

Always for Pleasure

1978•58m•★7.4TMDB

Footage includes a jazz funeral, second-line parades, and cooking red beans and rice, capturing the vibrant social traditions of New Orleans.

Always for Pleasure

Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005)

Mardi Gras: Made in China

2005•1h12m•★8.3TMDB

Mardi Gras beads are mass-produced in a factory in Fuzhou, China, before becoming central to celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mardi Gras: Made in China

The Order of Myths (2008)

The Order of Myths

2008•1h37m•★6.0TMDB

Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, features over 30 mystic societies, each with distinct traditions rooted in the city's complex racial history.

The Order of Myths

A King Like Me (2024)

A King Like Me

2024•1h30m•★10.0TMDB

Members of the Zulu Club work to revive the Zulu parade for Mardi Gras Day 2022 after facing a global pandemic, hurricane Ida, and community losses.

The Whole Gritty City (2013)

The Whole Gritty City

2013•1h29m•★8.0TMDB

Three New Orleans school marching bands prepare for the iconic Mardi Gras parades while facing the challenges of life in a city known for its dangers.

The Whole Gritty City

Up From the Streets - New Orleans: The City of Music (2021)

Up From the Streets - New Orleans: The City of Music

2021•1h44m•★6.5TMDB

New Orleans music features performances and interviews with musicians like Terence Blanchard, reflecting the city's vibrant cultural traditions.

Up From the Streets - New Orleans: The City of Music

Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (2022)

Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story

2022•1h34m•★5.5TMDB

Fifty years of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival are captured through live performances and interviews with artists like Bruce Springsteen and Katy Perry.

Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story

Lagniappe (2006)

Lagniappe

2006•25m•★4.2TMDB

Over 25 minutes, filmmakers Les Blank and Maureen Gosling compile vibrant footage of Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, featuring colorful parades and lively music.

America (2019)

America

2019•30m•★5.2TMDB

Thirty minutes of cinematic storytelling from New Orleans challenges the notion of black cinema as a temporary movement, presenting it as a continuous achievement.

Seeking Derangements at Mardi Gras (2023)

Seeking Derangements at Mardi Gras

A Cajun enby interviews festival-goers at Mardi Gras, capturing the lively atmosphere and diverse experiences of this iconic New Orleans celebration in 38 minutes.

Seeking Derangements at Mardi Gras

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →