Flood Streets

I had the honor to see Flood Streets at the Boston International Film Festival, and I was absolutely blown away by what I saw. Flood Streets is a marvelous film about life in Post-Katrina New Orleans. The lives depicted in Flood Streets aren't extraordinary. The characters don't solve crimes or save the city, they aren't decision makers or "important people", they're just average New Orleans residents, trying to get by in the ruins around them. Flood Streets is both entertaining and moving. There are both lighthearted and touching moments, as well as sobering and moving ones. Flood Streets is driven by its dedicated actors, who act out one of the most authentic and real screenplays in a very long time. Helen Krieger's script is hands down of the best since "The Social Network", but it has a level of authenticity that only comes from being a New Orleans, Louisiana resident. Everything about Flood Streets is downright perfect from start to finish.

We saw Flood Streets at the Houston International Film Festival in its award winning debut and were overwhelmed by the quality and complexity of this super low budget film. Flood Streets definitely merits broader distribution and exposure to a wider audience. Joseph Meissner is a quiet, steely presence who glues the storyline and the many disparate characters together. Becky Stark is a memorable actress whose talent, both acting and singing, gives you smiles to take home and savor for weeks. Both Meissner and Stark should be "discovered" from this work. Helen Krieger's story rings so true that you forget that you are at the movies and feel that you are an observer following the characters around post-Kartrina New Orleans. The subtle way Krieger tells her story allows the audience to think and interpret for itself. The soundtrack of New Orleans jazz and a funky Klezmer band adds another level of joy for the film. Flood Streets is unique and memorable, there is nothing quite to compare it with. It should be in every film lover's collection.

I've seen this movie twice, both times at New Orleans screenings, with New Orleans audiences, and found it gripping and inspiring both times. It's been interesting to watch storytellers, artists, writers, movie makers tell the various After stories and this is a good one, one that captures what After meant to a group of New Orleanians, specific characters who could (and do!) really exist here, but who we almost never see in films. New Orleans deals with the most overwhelming experiences with its own brand of humor and this movie finds those perfect moments to show us exactly what it was like. Flood Streets tells a story of who these people were and are, Before and After, and always.

A huge thank you to the filmmaking team, director/actor Joseph Meissner and writer Helen Krieger, for giving us this post-Katrina tale that's free of cliché; instead, the filmmakers let us simply enter this very specific world of New Orleans and live it for a while.

It's a rare experience for me to come away from a film and feel like I've truly been there...with those people...in those streets...in those houses. NOLA residents and Katrina survivors Meissner and Krieger have created a unique valentine to a city they clearly love, and their insider status gives the film an authenticity that only locals could provide. The specifics of post-Katrina life (no daily papers available, when will mail delivery resume?) are things outsiders (myself included!) probably didn't think about once the crisis was over. The handling of such details is masterful and the ensemble of performances is top-notch. Special shout outs to Joseph Meissner whose quiet intensity is absolutely mesmerizing, and to Becky Stark whose quirky energy and infectious laugh add just the right touch.

The film is based on Krieger's collection of short stories,"In The Land of What Now," and I, for one, can't wait to read them!

First, a confession. Flood Streets is not the kind of film I'd normally go to see. I like movies about neo-Nazi drug dealers shooting it out with streetwise cops. So, after being persuaded (OK, arm-twisted) by a colleague to see Flood Streets at the Boston International Film Fest, I was totally unprepared for how much I **LOVED** this movie. Helen Krieger's script beautifully weaves together multiple characters and plot lines in a way that is totally riveting. I really **cared** about the characters and was absorbed by their very human efforts to cope, not just with life after Katrina, but with life, period. The acting was uniformly pitch perfect, and director/star Joe Meissner's performance was downright amazing. This is a film that deserves a wide audience. It's a crowd-pleaser for sure -- the Boston audience gave it two sustained ovations, once at the beginning of the credits and again when the lights came up. Kudos to the filmmakers, along with heartfelt thanks for a powerful cinematic experience.