Katrina Babies

This is an incredible film. I saw it through Tribeca where the director Edward Buckles one Best Documentary Director, which he definitely deserved. I don't have much to say besides see this film as quick as you can.

What a gift this movie is to the people of Katrina, as well as those who only know this tragedy the way it was depicted on the news. I haven't been this moved by a movie in a very long time. The one negative is that it is only a movie and not a series. The director touches on so many crucial themes: community, trauma, childhood development, generational patterns, racism, classism, as well as our societies blindness to children's lived experience and emotions. I'm blown away by these stories and the resilience of the New Orleans community. Can't wait to see what this director does next.

The first half of the documentary was very strong and we're introduced to people who have compelling stories about the trauma they experienced during Katrina. While it's a relatively short film it unfortunately starts to drag in the second half, while there are some interesting observations about the lasting impact that Katrina had on some of these people, it starts to feel more like a film someone made for an intimate community or family album and less like a comprehensive look at the havoc that Katrina wreaked on the youth of an entire city. There are some mentions about what happened to the youth on a larger scale but overall the film opts for more personal, heartfelt stories. Towards the end we're exposed to a lot of meandering shots of people just staring into the camera or laughing and dancing as if we're watching an ad for Cialis. I'm assuming the film felt an overwhelming need to imbue it's audience with a sense of hope towards the end but it came off more as a manipulative effort to cheer us up rather than a genuine look into the present or future. However I don't think any of these flaws detract from the value of this film because it's intimacy seems very intentional and meaningful and despite its meandering hopefulness, the heartbreak of this film is where the real marrow is found.

I'm still processing what I just watched but it was so compelling, beautiful, and sad. I hope this filmmaker gets the recognition he deserves and that this documentary continues to build empathy for the people of New Orleans and how Katrina impacted their lives.

As "Katrina Babies" (2022 release; 82 min.) opens, it is "2005" and we get aerial footage of New Orleans underwater, and people being rescued and airlifted. In a voice-over writer-director Edward Buckles Jr. Reminisces about getting together with cousins and playing outside in the hood. "Nobody ever asked the children how they were doing, so I am", he laments. We go to "2015" as Buckles starts gathering testimonials from people who were kids back then...

Couple of comments: this is the debut feature length of writer-director Edward Buckles Jr., and what a debut it is. Years in the making, he looks back at the long shadows of Hurricane Katrina, and what devastation it wrecked onto NOLA's African=American community. He reminds us that Katrina caused one of the largest disbursement of African-Americans in this country's history. All of that pales as compared to hearing the heartbreaking testimonials from now adults around 25-30 years old, but just kids back then. While this isn't the first documentary about Katrina ("When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" immediately comes to mind), the footage of how Katrina chewed NOLA and spit it out remains shocking to this day.

"Katrina Babies" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this summer to great positive buzz. There is good reason why this is currently rated 100% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The documentary premiered a few days ago on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and HBO Max, where I caught it. If you need a reminder of the long shadows of Katrina on NOLA's African-American community, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.