The life and complicated times of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., patriarch of the First Family of Jazz, who turned teaching music into a Civil Rights Act, mentored a generation of top musicians and, drawing from his hometown of New Orleans, changed modern jazz.
ELLIS is the the first feature-length documentary about New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. and the Marsalis Music Family. The film documents the life of this exceptional New Orleans composer, performer, and educator and the profound influence that the city had on him -- and that he had on the jazz that came out of New Orleans. It is also a story of how one man transcended racial injustices he faced from his birth in the Jim Crow South to his death from COVID 19.
Sascha Just is a New York-based filmmaker, born and raised in Berlin.
Prior to What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile, Sascha produced and directed Ellis (2022), the first feature-length documentary about New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., Food Truck Kings Astoria for ARTE about immigrant food truck vendors (2023) and SwampBirds about the impact of coastal erosion in Louisiana on Cajun culture (also for ARTE 2024).
Sascha produced and directed the short documentary Big Chief about New Orleans Black Indian Chief Darryl Montanta's path to Mardi Gras, and the short documentary Ambassadors about a competition for the title Jazz Ambassadors to the US.
Sascha’s films screened among other at DOC NYC, the St. Louis International Film Festival, Krakow International Film Festival, See the Sound/Soundtrack Cologne, the American Documentary Film Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival, USA Film Festival, Katra Film Series, The Segal Performance Film Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, and numerous Universities across the United States.
Sascha holds a BA in Film and an MA/PhD in Performance, Theater and Film Studies from the City University of New York (CUNY). She teaches in the Communications Department of Baruch College, CUNY.
Cast - Wynton Marsalis
Cast - Branford Marsalis
Cast - Wendell Pierce
Cast - Jason Marsalis
Music Supervisor - Jason Marsalis
