Movies Fill In the Blank With Smell and Taste : Folk Films: Depending on what Les Blank film is playing, count on the aroma of garlic or red beans and rice. For this artist, and his audience, olfactory nerves play a big part.

SAN DIEGO —  Walk into most movie theaters and the smell of popcorn usually fills the air. But walk into a theater where a Les Blank film is showing and you’re liable to have your olfactory nerve responding to the distinct scent of garlic or the aroma of red beans and rice, depending on what film is playing.

It’s all part of experiencing the quirky work of Blank, known for his “folk films” that explore regional music and film.

Blank’s latest film, “I Went to the Dance,” kicks off a retrospective of his work beginning Wednesday at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. After the screening, the audience will be served gumbo, in keeping with the film’s topic--Cajun and zydeco music. The recipe, supplied by Cajun musician Marc Savoy, will be prepared by chefs from Vic’s in La Jolla. The ingredients are right from the source--Blank was in Louisiana last weekend and brought back the spicy supplies.

“This started when I was shooting ‘Spend It All’ and not knowing what to shoot, so I shot some footage of people cooking,” Blank said. “Then, during editing and screening sessions, I started cooking at my studio. That allowed me to lure people over to give me feedback.”

That led to food actually being prepared and served at public screenings, as with “Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers” (an experience Blank calls “aroma-round”), and “Always for Pleasure” (known as “smell-around”).

In “Garlic”--much of it shot at the garlic festival in Gilroy--whole heads of the plant were roasted in toaster ovens in the theater, while in “Pleasure”--about Mardi Gras in New Orleans--red beans and rice were cooked outside the theater and brought in at the precise moment they are being served during a scene in the film.

Much of Blank’s work over the past 20 years has focused on the music and food of Louisiana. For his latest film, he returns to the swampy locales seen in prior films such as “Spend It All” (1971) and “Dry Wood” (1973)--both about Cajun music--and “Hot Pepper” (1973) about zydeco.

“I Went to the Dance” is billed as “the definitive history of Cajun and Creole music in Louisiana”--an 84-minute piece that includes performances by a virtual Who’s Who of the genres: old-timers such as the late Clifton Chenier and the Balfa Brothers and relative newcomers such as Rockin’ Sidney and Savoy.

The film was completed earlier this year and had its official premiere at the Montreal and Telluride film festivals. It opened theatrically in San Fransciso recently and grossed $23,000 in the first eight days--a disaster by Hollywood standards, but an impressive showing for an independent documentary.

“It’s longer than my previous films on the subject,” said Blank, who is spending a year as “Distinguished Filmmaker in Residence” at UCSD. “It’s a feature-length film and more linear than the others. It proceeds through the history of Cajun music and Creole people from Africa. It’s treated as a definitive study of the whole subject without being overly laborious. It’s education that’s entertaining.”

Blank, a native of Tampa, got his first taste of Louisiana culture while attending Tulane University. He moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘60s and attended USC’s film school with the intention of becoming a big-time movie director but soon found himself drawn to a more personal form of film making.

With his quiet, unassuming manner, Blank makes unobtrusive, loving films that are essentially celebrations of their subjects.

All screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $2 for museum members, $3 for others, except for Wednesday’s premiere when tickets are $4 for members, $5 for others. The lineup for the La Jolla retrospective is as follows: Nov. 15

“I Went to the Dance” (1989). Nov. 22

“The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins” (1968), a poetic, often hilarious, film featuring the late Texas blues guitarist and singer. “A Well Spent Life” (1971) about another Texas blues man--Mance Lipscomb, and “Spend It All” (1971), Blank’s first film about Cajun music, featuring the Balfa Brothers. Nov. 29

“Dry Wood” and “Hot Pepper” (1973), companion films about Cajun and zydeco music, the latter focusing on the late “king of zydeco” Clifton Chenier. Also “Del Mero Corazon” (1979), about Tex-Mex border music. Dec. 6

“Chulas Fronteras” (1976), about Tex-Mex border music, and “Always for Pleasure” (1978), about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Dec. 13

“Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1979), along with “In Heaven There Is No Beer?” (1984), about Polish-American polka dancers. Dec. 20

“Burden of Dreams” (1982), about the making of Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo” in the Peruvian Amazon, and “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe” (1980). Dec. 27

“Gap-Toothed Women” (1987), perhaps Blank’s quirkiest film, featuring testimonials from 40 women including Lauren Hutton and Sandra Day O’Connor. With “Ziveli!: Medicine for the Heart” (1987), “Sprout Wings and Fly” (1983), about Appalachian fiddler Tommy Jarrell, and “Cigarette Blues” (1985).