The Sunken City: Rebuilding Post-Katrina New Orleans (2009)

Post-Katrina New Orleans oscillates between recovery and rebuilding, a fascinating process that our documentary captures over the course of two years (2006-2008). Despite, or maybe because of the incompetent response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the disheartening reluctance of all levels of government to effectively engage in the rebuilding process, New Orleanians have turned to each other for material and moral support. At the same time, volunteers from all over the nation have become the muscle for new and established grassroots organizations, setting up food banks, providing medical care, gutting homes, and rebuilding schools and public libraries. Our documentary follows these events, takes stock of the loss that defines the "storm generation," and features interviews with "third responders," who dedicate themselves to rebuilding morale among those dispirited by the slowness of recovery. We meet the leaders of neighborhood associations galvanized by the haphazard governmental response. We visit alternative housing projects such as the Musicians' Village founded by Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis (Habitat for Humanity) and Brad Pitt's "Make It Right Project" and learn about the importance of indigenous cultures for the revival of neighborhood communities and the healing of the city as a whole. In short, in a series of interviews, our documentary chronicles the achievements of both the local residents and the millions of volunteers streaming to the region from all over the nation, while exploring the limitations and fragility of a recovery process built upon the shoulders of individuals operating almost entirely without government support. Throughout, the film thus examines larger themes relevant to American society today, culminating in a final discussion of American citizens' vision of and trust in democratic processes.