Becca Begnaud, a culture-bearing healer from Scott, Louisiana, shares her testimony and friends who’ve tended her becoming, in hopes the viewer looks to their own story and those who share it, to empower the healer within and reveal the necessity of community. 

with Louis Deshotels + Sarah Brabant + Ray Brassieur + Mathé Allain

currently in post-production

Becca Begnaud is a born healer. She comes by these talents both naturally and through persistence. But first, she had to experience healing from the perspective of the patient. The saga that is her life, is nothing short of remarkable. Coming back from the throes of mental illness and twice recovered from breast cancer, Becca knows more about the mind-body-spirit connection than most. Her training as a Reiki Master, Healing Touch Practitioner, and in Trauma First Aide, have all built upon that mind-body-spirit connection and personal experience. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette giving her the background to merge her own experiences and her unique education as a healer with her French-speaking Catholic roots. As the initiator and founder/director of the now defunct Healthcare for Musicians, Becca has served as a leader.

Her own talents as a singer, musician, author, newspaper columnist, and storyteller are known throughout the Acadiana area and add to her abilities as a presenter. Her volunteerism includes speaking engagements with recovery groups for those with cancer as well as mental illness – groups who she describes as having a collective experience that is “much bigger than my own.” She is also recognized by hundreds of thousands as the French-speaking announcer/translator on stage at the annual Festival International, a francophone event named one of the top ten festivals worldwide by National Geographic Magazine. But it is her gift and endowment as a French-speaking traditional traiteur that has currently thrust her into the limelight.

produced by Honest Art x Becca Begnaud / directed by Syd Horn + Matt Mick + Olivia Perillo + Andrea Villien / cinematography by Olivia Perillo + John Paul Summers / sound by Ben Usie + Jeremy Gegenheimer + Syd Horn / edited by Olivia Perillo + Syd Horn / graphic design by André Broussard / music by Carolina Chauffe (hemlock), engineered by Elijah Berlow / special thanks to Magic Bus + Paul Kieu

This project is the recipient of the 2023 ArtSpark Grant from the Acadiana Center for the Arts and Lafayette Economic Development Authority.

Country Roads Magazine feature