Monday, August 23, 2010

LA Times-Spike Lee Returns To New Orleans

Spike Lee: Luis Sinco/LA Times
(Story reported by Greg Braxton for the LA Times)

Spike Lee's return to New Orleans for the follow-up of his sprawling post- Hurricane Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" is just as big and anything but easy.

In his Emmy Award-winning 2006 project, the producer-director vividly depicted the horrific tragedy and devastation of the hurricane, which included numerous scenes of death, loss, economic upheaval and turmoil that plagued the residents of New Orleans. The four-hour, two-part HBO documentary also focused on the determination of residents to stay in their beloved city and restore it to its former glory.

With "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise," the sequel to "When the Levees Broke" which premieres Monday on HBO, Lee undertakes an exhaustive examination of the social, political and economic complexities that continue to cloud recovery efforts in New Orleans. But the new documentary takes on a ripped-from-the-headlines urgency as it pointedly tackles the BP oil spill that has further complicated life on the Gulf Coast.

(Click here to read the full story on the LA Times)

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