Amidst shuttered rural dance clubs and encroaching globalization, five Grammy Award-winning Cajun musicians push the music of their ancestors forward with the hopes of keeping their culture alive. But the fans are getting older and older, the music venues are closing, and the language is fading away. Yet these artists persevere, winning awards and going on world tours while building a new fan base of millennials who go two-stepping on Friday nights. But will it be enough to save the culture? A new feature-length documentary, Roots of Fire (Part 1), finds these artists lending their voices, examining the discrimination that almost erased their traditions, and sharing the unique sounds created when the forces of fresh talent and deep history collide to fight for cultural survival.

Filmmakers Abby Berendt Lavoi and Jeremey Lavoi initially started their Roots of Fire project to capture amazing stories in the world of South Louisiana roots music with the goal of sharing those stories in a style that would appeal to audiences outside of Louisiana—hopefully enlarging the fan bases of both Cajun and zydeco music in the process.

“It is not our intention to make an authoritative work on Cajun music, its vibrant history, or even its contemporary diaspora,” say the Lavois in a press release. “We wanted to make something that was authentic to our sensibilities, something entertaining, and something that feels like a window into this colorful artistic community.” What they achieved could possibly mean more to the future of the genre than any history book could muster.

“We also wanted to make a film that was very music-forward and devoted as much running time as we could justify to hearing—and feeling—the actual music,” the Lavois say. “At the end of the day, experiencing this music live is the best way to consume it. From day one of this project, it has been our goal to capture that experience as faithfully as possible.”

Film Threat has already given Roots of Fire a 9/10 score, writing, “Prepare to be immersed in the wild gumbo of the live scene in Lafayette, Louisiana, that strives to keep the locals’ French traditions alive.”

The film will be screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, which gets underway from November 3 to 13, and the Southern Screen Festival in Lafayette from November 10 to 13.

For more information about Roots of Fire and additional screening events nationwide, visit here.