Big news for the Sacred Harp community: Singing the Shapes: Songs of the Enduring Sacred Harp, Timothy Morton’s long-awaited feature documentary, will have its world premiere at the 2026 New Orleans Film Festival this October.
More than seven years in the making, Singing the Shapes approaches Sacred Harp from inside the tradition. Morton—a filmmaker, gardener, and longtime Sacred Harp singer from Louisville, Kentucky—explores the people and communities that sustain one of America’s oldest living musical traditions, and the remarkable unity of sound created when singers of different generations, backgrounds, and beliefs gather around the hollow square.
The New Orleans Film Festival describes the film as revealing “a curious subculture where participation gives rise to unexpected harmony across generations, beliefs, and ways of life.” The film has been selected as a Documentary Feature, Southern Film, and Made in Louisiana presentation.
The New Orleans Film Festival runs October 22–27, 2026. The date and time of the Singing the Shapes screening have not yet been announced; we’ll share them when they become available.
Festival information:
https://neworleansfilmsociety.org/lineup-events/
Learn more about the film:
https://www.singingtheshapes.com/
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