FILMMAKER

AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY

The Nita & Zita Project

Marci Darling is directing a documentary on legendary 1930’s New Orleans dancers, Nita & Zita, glittering globetrotting jewish immigrant sisters who rose to the heights of international stardom and then began an even more extraordinary journey when upon retiring, leaving a profound impact on other artists.

THE NITA & ZITA Project

Picture this: Gypsy Rose Lee meets Grey Gardens meets Sisterhood of the Traveling Underpants … with a dash of Fiddler on the Roof.

This is the extraordinary story of outsider artists who blazed a trail to international stardom, then became eccentric recluses, weaving their mythology into the very fabric of New Orleans.

This award-winning documentary explores the exceptional lives of legendary New Orleans dancers, Nita & Zita, jewish sisters who emigrated from Hungary to NYC in 1922. Their “eccentric” dance performances were in such high demand they headed out to dance all over the world, before retiring to a creole cottage in New Orleans where they became eccentric recluses who painted their house top to bottom with flowers and polka dots and surrounded themselves with photos from their dancer days.

After they died, their neighbor found thousands of hand-sewn costumes that were then sold in an estate sale that lasted 5 years.

Many artists in New Orleans own Nita & Zita costume pieces, where they are now literally woven into the fabric of the city.

Story Summary

The story of Nita & Zita is a tale of the ultimate “outsider” artists, marginalized women who lived by their own rules, globetrotting jewish immigrants who blazed their own trail as dancers. It is a story of mystery, intrigue, glamour, stardom, poverty, loneliness, and most of all, the extraordinary love and devotion of sisters. This is also the story of two muses, who inspired countless artists to create their own art.

In 1920, Piroska Gellert was reviewed in the Hungarian news as a young “dance phenomenon” performing her “barefoot oriental dances” around Transylvania. With anti-semitism growing on all sides and a homeland taken over by another country, the sisters set off to create a new life in New York City. It was 1922, and the Roaring Twenties were in full swing.

The sisters became U.S. citizens, danced all over New York City, then packed up their steamer trunks to perform all over the world: France, Shanghai, Manila, Buenos Aires, Havana, San Francisco, and Panama. In 1948, they bought a creole cottage on Dauphine Street in New Orleans where they retired from dancing.

Their story could have ended there, but Nita & Zita were not done creating a rich tapestry of their lives. They became eccentric recluses, rarely interacting with the outside world, never marrying, never having children. They continued their incredible story inside their house as recluses, creating an endless stream of art: costumes, painting furniture, embroidery, sewing, crafting, etc.

The sisters are now buried in the pauper’s section of the Hebrew Rest Cemetery in New Orleans. Their funerals were only attended by one neighbor and the Rabbi.

After they died, their neighbor found thousands of handmade costumes made of found objects in their house. She held a yard sale that lasted 5 years. The costumes and photos inspired countless artists to create their own art based on Nita & Zita.

Topic Summary

Nita & Zita is the extraordinary story of gender trailblazers, artistic devotion, marginalized women, and starry-eyed jewish immigrants. These two young girls in the 1920’s who left everything they knew to follow their dreams, forging their own path in a foreign country during a time when few women could make a living without a man to support them.

Artistic Approach

Marci Darling is telling the story of Nita & Zita through the lens of her own background as a belly dancer , circus acrobat, and contortionist burlesque dancer who performed all over the world with her soul sister, Kim.

As one of the artists who was so intrigued by Nita & Zita’s photos and elusive story, Marci not only fell in love with New Orleans (and eventually moved there,) but she based her burlesque act on the sisters, which was performed for two years at the Viper Room in Hollywood. Kim died 5 years ago, and this documentary is love letter to her, to Nita & Zita, and to all the women whose voices are rarely heard.

Losing Kim gives Marci a unique take on the story of Nita & Zita as less a story of poverty and isolation, and more a story of love and creating one’s own world.

Additionally, she is exploring the way many different artists project their own ideas onto Nita & Zita, resonating with different parts of their stories.

We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art... we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones ~ Anais Nin

The Team

Marci Darling, Director/Producer

Marci Darling is a writer, dancer, filmmaker, teacher, and MOM (Monarch of Merriment). She worked as a professional belly dancer, circus acrobat, contortionist-illusionist, and burlesque dancer for twenty years, dancing on tour with The Go-Go’s, the B-52’s, Paul McCartney, and many others. She has written 5 bestselling books and is Adjunct Faculty at Endicott College. With a Masters in Education from Harvard, a BA in English/Creative Writing from UCLA, and a Certificate in Writing from Stanford, her writing has appeared in multiple publications including the NYTimes, Boston Globe, Martha’s Vineyard Times, etc. She worked at Sundance Institute and Film Festival for 5 years and on the Short Film Selection Committees for the Big Apple Film Festival and Boston Film Festival.

The Nita Zita Project holds a special place in Ms. Darling's heart as a tribute to her soul mate and dance partner, Kim, who passed away in 2018. After experiencing an enormous amount of loss, Marci’s artistic endeavors are centered around grief, and specifically how creativity can ignite the kind of light that blasts through darkness.

Dr. Sharon Gillen, Producer

Sharon Gillen is a perfectly imperfect human who finds great joy in approaching life as an opportunity for learning. She is a medical doctor and was drawn to the profession as a way to help heal people. More recently she has realized the power of healing through storytelling and feels called to honor her ancestors by connecting more deeply to the divine feminine and her Jewish heritage. She is also from the Baia Mare area in Romania, the same area as Nita & Zita.

Her proudest accomplishment is raising 3 beautiful humans. She is also a lover of all things film and has served on the board of the New Orleans Film Society.

Alexandra Kern, Creative Producer

Alexandra is a filmmaker whose work explores how we inform the next generation in our complex cultures. Growing up in New Orleans has taught her how crucial culture and art is in shaping future generations and how the family extends outside the home. She graduated from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts with a Creative Producing in 2018. Since graduating she has produced commercial and independent acclaimed projects for artists such as Tyler the Creator, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, and Kendrick Lamar as well as line producing the 2022 Sundance Directing Award Winner feature Palm Trees and Power Lines.

Her creative directorial debut, short documentary Wild Magnolias, is currently on its festival circuit having screened at Oscar qualifying festivals. The short was honored by a special screening at the New Orleans Jazz Museum where it was offered a permanent stay in their historical archive.

Stefanie Naifeh, Music Supervisor

Stefanie Naifeh’s professional stage career began when she was 15 with the San Francisco Opera production of Carmen, with Placido Domingo as Don Jose. She fronted the L.A. neo-cabaret band, The Underthings, in the late 80s and early 90s. The Underthings have begun performing again and have a show booked at the 1642 club in Los Angeles on August 19, 2023. The Underthings’ self-titled album release received substantial radio play nationally as well as in France and Canada, and subsequently the band was a featured performer in the New Music Seminar in New York City. Naifeh’s music and circus performances have taken her from L.A. to San Francisco, New York, Berlin, Japan, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, and the Paris Metro.

In 1995 Naifeh surprised everyone by literally running away with the circus. She performed as an aerialist with the L.A. Circus, Circo Osorio, Hnos Caballers, El Gran Circo De Mexico, and the Fern Street Circus. She also performed her aerial acts in films, television, and special events. In 2001 she debuted her signature aerial act La Mariposa, in which she danced and flew with 15-foot butterfly wings.

Malaika Stambler, Intern

Mika is a senior at Tulane University with majors in Digital Media Practices and Communications, and a minor in Japanese. Originally from Los Angeles, CA, Malaika has been involved in and learned from many student productions at Tulane, including editing and acting in comedy narrative Forever Senior and editing a student capstone film this spring 2023 semester, Fatal Illustration by Cresin Williams-Quinn.

Malaika has developed passions for documentary filmmaking, editing, and experimental art. She spent the summer of 2022 working under Professor Casey Beck and producer Mary Cardaras as a production assistant and assistant editor on their brainchild, The Climate Changemakers, and then later in the summer worked as a production assistant on season 2 of BET’s Sacrifice, and more recently ran sound for a series of short episodes on pregnancy education by the doula collective, Birthmark.

During her semester abroad in Tokyo, she worked for Temple University’s office of study abroad as a "storyteller", wherein she produced written blogs, photos, and animated collages featured on their student testimonials page. She served the 2022-2023 school year as Media Director for WTUL New Orleans 91.5, Tulane's student-run progressive radio station, and has been running its Instagram page, creating informational graphics, taking and sharing event photography, and communicating with collaborating community organizations to promote local events.

Malaika also loves cooking, songwriting, photography, hiking and drawing. With these roles under her belt, as well as her own identity as a Jewish, feminist artist and filmmaker, she feels excited and inspired to be a part of the female-led crew creating The Nita and Zita Documentary.

Filmmaker Statement

Marci Darling and Sharon Gillen are passionate about smashing Jewish stereotypes, gender stereotypes, dancer stereotypes, and socioeconomic injustices through innovative visual storytelling.

The filmmakers are dedicated to telling the story of these mythical sisters in a way that touches people’s souls, inspiring new storytellers and artists to tell their stories too, to create their art, to take risks and step into the unknown, no matter their background. Moreover, this film will shine a new light on an aspect of American history and culture that is rarely illuminated, the stories of burlesque dancers, acrobats, contortionists, and the people who dare to step into the ring and take big risks in order to make their living as performers. Dancers are ephemeral — when they die, their art goes with them, unless someone tells their story.

We are telling their story.

Co-founded in New Orleans in 2023 by Marci Darling and Sharon Gillen to create character-driven films that explore exceptional artists and creators through the intersection of history, culture, and film. A “bearcat” is a 1920’s word for a spirited woman, and a “tango” is one of the most vibrant, passionate, expressive, and playful dances of all time.

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