New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in the world – I consider myself a NOLA-phile and consume anything I can about the magical and mysterious Crescent City – so when I had a copy of "Tchoupitoulas" in my hands, which will screen twice at the Milwaukee Film Festival, I couldn't jam it into my laptop quickly enough.

"Tchoupitoulas" – which is a street name in New Orleans – was created by brothers Bill and Turner Ross and produced by Court 13, the same group who produced the stunning "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Like "Beasts," "Tchoupitoulas" has a dreamy quality to it, but whereas "Beasts" is more of a dark fairy tale, "Tchoupiloulas" has a grittier feel as a documentary that chronicles the adventures of the three Zanders brothers – Kentrell, 16; Bryan, 15; and William, 11 – who take the ferry across the Mississippi River from their home in Algiers to the lively French Quarter.

From dusk to dawn, the boys encounter a variety of NOLA nightlife experiences, including burlesque performers, an oyster bar, a rapper in a club, street brass bands, an abandoned riverboat and more. The beautiful, abstract images will make fans of the city long to revisit and those who have never been will most likely feel a mix of curiosity and awe mixed in with a dash of trepidation.

The conversations between the brothers are natural, ranging in topic from how to attract women to Michael Jackson, but sometimes it's difficult to hear what they are saying and the audience might only decipher a single word. However, the snippets of dialogue and the visual vignettes which flow one into the next create a non-traditional plot that's still easy to follow and an experience that washes over the viewer more like a poem than a documentary.

My only complaint was that I didn't feel that the brothers, although appealing people, were crucial to the film. They could have been removed from it entirely and little of the overall experience would have been lost. This might be due to the fact the Ross brothers filmed for several months prior to adding in the Zanders and therefore their characters seem superfluous during much of the film.

"Tchoupitoulas" screens Saturday, Oct. 6 at 9:30 p.m. at The Downer and on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 4:45 p.m. at the Oriental. Louisiana native and New Orleans scholar Lee Abbott will facilitate a free discussion about the film following the screening at The Oriental. It will take place at the Hotel Foster, 2028 E. North Ave. Get tickets here.