Still Waiting: Life After Katrina
Here’s a documentary, streaming freely online, on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Below is the text of the e-mail that Kate Browne, the producer, is distributing.
Subject: Documentary: Still Waiting: Life After Katrina”
From: Kate Browne
Date: 8 February 2008
“Still Waiting: Life After Katrina” documents the remarkable story of
resilience, family, and attachment to place. The role of race, women,
family, food, and faith are integral to the content and provide powerful
teaching opportunities.
“Still Waiting” is a collaborative project of two-time Emmy winning
filmmaker Ginny Martin, and Kate Browne, Afro-Creole specialist and
professor of anthropology at Colorado State University. The documentary
was filmed between October 2005 and March 2007 and was funded by National
Science Foundation, Colorado State University, and Women in Film. Still
Waiting was broadcast on nearly 300 PBS stations in August, September and
October 2007. The film’s website includes a low resolution streaming video
of the film , a link showing reactions to the documentary, PBS air dates
and times, and links for ordering a DVD for personal or institutional use.
Please visit
www.stillwaiting.colostate.edu/
The story:
“Still Waiting” takes place in the post-Katrina world of three African
American women who grew up in the New Orleans area. The stories of Connie,
Katie, and Janie are set against a backdrop of the larger extended family
they share. In the film, we see how our primary women who have long held
up the center of their respective families react differently to the
circumstances that Katrina has thrust upon them.
The unusual size and interconnectedness of the 155-member family portrayed
in this film point to a cultural truth that, while unfamiliar in most of
the US, resonates strongly in the New Orleans area. The group¹s
well-knotted bonds of love and reciprocity function like an emotional
ecosystem, capable, it seems, of absorbing the profound betrayal of nature
and the system. But as the story of their evacuation to Dallas gives way
to the story of their return to the bayou and the unexpected difficulties
they face, the hopes of reclaiming life as it once existed look
increasingly remote.
If you have questions about the film, please do not hesitate to contact me
at kate.browne@colostate.edu or by phone, 970-491-5813.
Kate
