Key West Art & Historical Society Film Series Continues at Custom House Museum with “The Order of Myths”

In the 2008 documentary film” The Order of Myths,” which shows Thursday, February 16 at 6pm at the Custom House Museum, director Margaret Brown explores the separate black and white mystic societies whose Mobile, Alabama, members organize the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the country.

Key West Art & Historical Society’s film series continues on Thursday, February 16 at 6:00pm in the Helmerich Research & Learning Center at the Custom House Museum, 281 Front Street with “The Order of Myths,” a 2008 documentary directed by Margaret Brown about America’s first Mardi Gras, established in Mobile, Alabama in 1703 and its 300-plus year tradition of segregation. Described by “SALON” as possibly “the nonfiction film of the year” and “an arch, acute and haunting documentary about the segregated Mardi Gras traditions of Mobile, Alabama,” filmmaker Brown examines the event’s rituals and traditions, spotlighting the individual mystic societies maintained by black and white groups, and probing the complex history of a city with a slaveholding past.

Made possible in part by the generosity of the Helmerich Trust, the Key West Art & Historical Society film series is curated by Society board member and cineaste Michael Shields, who offers “films that expand our vistas and give us fresh views of our home.” Tickets for the event can be purchased online kwahs.org/education/filmseries: $5 for members, $10 for non-members. For more information about this and other programs, please contact Adele Williams, Director of Education, at 305-295-6616, ext. 115. Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.

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