When the Levees Broke

This article is about the Spike Lee documentary. For the 1929 blues song, see When the Levee Breaks.

When the Levees Broke
The logo for the documentary, depicting a damaged New Orleans street sign.
Directed by	Spike Lee
Produced by	Spike Lee Samuel D. Pollard
Music by	Terence Blanchard
Cinematography	Cliff Charles
Editing by	Barry Alexander Brown Geeta Gandbhir Nancy Novack Samuel D. Pollard
Production company	40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Budget	US$2 million
Country	USA
Language	English
Original channel	HBO
Release date	August 16, 2006 (2006-08-16) (USA)
Running time	255 min
No. of episodes	2
Followed by	If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise

New Orleans Arena on August 16, 2006, the day of the premiere of the film.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana due to the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed in late August and early September 2005, and premiered at the New Orleans Arena on August 16, 2006 and was first aired on HBO the following week. The television premiere aired in two parts on August 21 and 22, 2006 on HBO. It has been described by an HBO executive as "one of the most important films HBO has ever made." The title is a reference to the blues tune "When the Levee Breaks", by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

The documentary was also screened at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival on August 31 and September 1, 2006. It won the Orizzonti Documentary Prize and one of two FIPRESCI awards. In addition it was shown at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival on September 15 and September 16, 2006. It won three awards at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and received a Peabody Award.

The documentary consists largely of news footage and still photos of Katrina and its aftermath interspersed with interviews. Interviewees throughout the film include politicians, journalists, historians, engineers, and many people from various parts of New Orleans and the surrounding areas who give first hand accounts of their experiences with the levee failures and the aftermath. The first installment opens with a photo and film montage of historic and recent New Orleans scenes with a soundtrack of Louis Armstrong performing Louis Alter's "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans". At the end of the last episode is a similar montage with Fats Domino's "Walking to New Orleans" on the soundtrack.

The film's original score is by Terence Blanchard, a New Orleans-born trumpeter who also appears in the film with his mother and aunt as they return to their flooded home.

In the style of Michael Apted's Up series (a documentary series that interviews Apted's subjects every seven years) Lee has planned to interview the interviewees in Levees at least once more. In August 2010, HBO aired Lee's documentary series If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, which chronicles how New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area have fared in the five years following Hurricane Katrina.

Synopsis

The film focuses on the forever changed lives of New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina hit. The film shows the citizens in the midst of disaster dealing with death, devastation and disease. In a statement made by director Spike Lee about the film he states, "New Orleans is fighting for its life. These are not people who will disappear quietly — they're accustomed to hardship and slights, and they'll fight for New Orleans. This film will showcase the struggle for New Orleans by focusing on the profound loss, as well as the indomitable spirit of New Orleaneans."

This particular documentary is Spike Lee's third, preceded by 1997's 4 Little Girls and 2002's Jim Brown: All-American.

Shooting for the film began some three months after Hurricane Katrina hit. Lee along with his camera crew took the first of eight trips to New Orleans where they conducted interviews and taped footage for the film. It was Lee's hope to obtain varying opinions of the storm and response to the storm's destruction. He interviewed nearly 100 people of diverse backgrounds and opinions for his film.

Interviewees

People appearing in interviews include:^{[citation needed]}

• Glen David Andrews, musician
• John M. Barry, author and member of Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority
• Harry Belafonte, actor and singer
• Terence Blanchard, jazz musician
• Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana
• Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Tulane University
• Karen Carter, New Orleans politician, member of the Louisiana State Legislature
• Louella Givens, representative, second district of Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, member of the New Orleans City Council
• Donnell Herrington, survivor of a post-Katrina racially-motivated shooting in Algiers Point
• Mary Landrieu, senior U.S. Senator from Louisiana
• Mitch Landrieu, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
• Dr. Calvin Mackie, faculty member of Tulane University and founder of Channel Zero; also appointed to Louisiana Recovery Authority
• Wynton Marsalis, musician
• Dr. Hassan Mashriqui, researcher, LSU Hurricane Center
• Marc Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans and President and CEO of the National Urban League
• Arthur Morrell, New Orleans politician and member of the Louisiana State Legislature
• Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans
• Soledad O'Brien, television journalist
• Sean Penn, actor and activist
• Wendell Pierce, New Orleans actor
• Garland Robinette, New Orleans journalist and radio host
• Junior Rodriguez, president of the St. Bernard Parish Council
• Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights activist
• Dinerral Shavers, musician
• Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center
• Kanye West, music producer and rapper
• Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, resident of New Orleans East.

Awards

When the Levees Broke won three Emmy Awards: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking, Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, and Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming.

It received a 2006 Peabody Award for being an "epic document of destruction and broken promises and a profound work of art" and "an uncompromising analysis of the events that precede and follow Hurricane Katrina's assault on New Orleans" that "tells the story with an unparalleled diversity of voices and sources." as well as the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. At the 63rd Venice International Film Festival the film was awarded the Horizons award in the documentary category. The film was also selected as part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

Points made by the film

The film focuses on the suffering of those affected by the disaster and their will to survive.

The film points out that the disaster in New Orleans was preventable, caused by levees poorly designed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, with the suffering afterwards greatly compounded by failures at all levels of government, most severely at the Federal level. These points are in line with mainstream investigations, including the bipartisan U.S. Congressional report "A Failure of Initiative" and the Army Corps of Engineers' own studies.

See also

• 2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans
• Criticism of government response to Hurricane Katrina

External links

• When the Levees Broke
• When the Levees Broke at AllRovi
• When the Levees Broke at the Internet Movie Database