Friday,
October 12 at 7pm
Reelblack presents
New
Home Movies From the Lower Ninth Ward
Philadelphia
Premiere
dir.
Jonathan Demme, USA, 2007, DigiBeta, 108 mins, color
Reelblack and International House are privileged to host the
Philadelphia Premiere of Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme's latest
film. Proceeds benefit the Parker Family of New Orleans, LA,
who lost nearly everything in Hurricaine Katrina and
is
the focus of this film.
 On
August 29, 2005, and in the days that followed, Americans sat
glued to their televisions, watching a disaster of unimaginable
proportions unfold before their eyes—hurricane Katrina and its
aftermath. Academy
Award®–winning director Jonathan Demme was among these viewers.
Like so many others around the world, he asked himself what
he could do to help. Demme says he felt drawn as a filmmaker
“to contribute somehow to the audio-visual record of what these
people were going through in their heroic efforts to jump start
their lives in the face of this epic, tragic event.” He simply
wanted to help get their stories out.
To
this end, Demme took his camera and a crew down to New Orleans,
and over the course of a year, amassed over 200 hours of footage,
largely of the city’s impoverished and predominantly African-American
Lower 9th Ward whose residents suffered the most significant
impact from Katrina’s destruction. The more time Demme spent
there, the more he realized the enormity of the situation. While
the hurricane itself got America’s attention, Demme’s documentary
asks, “and then what happened?”
New Home Movies From The Lower Ninth Ward is a raw
and compassionate examination of the tireless efforts made by
New Orleans natives who endure inconceivable adversity as they
attempt to reclaim their homes, their neighborhoods, and their
shattered lives. It is also a testament to the extraordinary
humanity of a filmmaker using the humble resources available
to him to ensure that we do not forget their persistent struggles,
even if they are no longer making headline news. -Sky
Sitney
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