The Canal Street Madam details the history of the Canal Street Brothel in New Orleans and its notorious closing and uncovering by the FBI and the subsequent arrest of its head madam, Jeanette Maier. First-time feature documentarian Cameron Yates said after the screening that the reason he chose to focus this subject in particular is that he felt the national media gave everyone a voice except for the Canal Street Madam herself, immediately written off as a criminal on account that she owned a brothel. Yates’ doc serves initially as a corrective for Maier’s lack of a voice within the mainstream media, and what a voice she possesses. It is in this respect that The Canal Street Madam serves its triple-function: the film focuses on her as a human being after the incident – so the incident isn’t always the central focus, but its retrospective function frames her character and opinions as documented – and from this character portrait the film tackles an array of issues, from body politics and the rights of discerning, autonomous, consensual adults to political corruption and hypocrisy in the city of New Orleans.
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