This weekend Esplanade mainstay Buffa’s segues from Sunday night showings of Treme to a new 12-part film series, “NOLAsynchroniCITY,” which aims to spotlight the culture of New Orleans and Louisiana’s heritage. Most of the featured artists will attend the screenings and answer questions in between the twice-nightly film presentations (8 and 10 p.m. Sundays).

The free series kicks off this Sunday, December 2 with Stevenson Palfi’s 1982 documentary Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together, a threefold portrait of Professor Longhair, Tuts Washington and Allen Toussaint. Click here for a preview.

A complete lineup (with the exception of March’s schedule, yet to be confirmed) for the “NOLAsynchroniCITY” series follows.

December 2012
2  — Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together

9  — Faubourg Treme – The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, by Lolis Elie and Dawn Logsdon

16 — Flood Streets – by Helen Krieger

January 2013
13 — Dirty Rice, by Pat Mire

20 — Big Uneasy, by Harry Shearer

27 — American Creole, by Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit

February 2013
10 —  All on a Mardi Gras Day, by Royce Osborn

17 — Tootie’s Last Suit, by Lisa Katzman

24 —  Always for Pleasure, by Les Blank