FILM

DiverseWorks and Aurora Picture Show partner to present a new exhibition in Flickerlounge, a season-long cinematic experience at DiverseWorks Art Space.

The DiverseWorks main gallery exhibition, Before, During, After features work by photographers whose lives were transformed by Hurricane Katrina, the devastating storm that destroyed the Gulf Coast five years ago. In partnership with this main gallery exhibit, Flickerlounge presents two short documentaries from the Media That Matters Film Festival that take an intimate look at people and communities affected by Katrina.

A Loud Color by New Orleans native, Brent Joseph, follows Louis Harding as he rebuilds the community center he opened just one month before Hurricane Katrina hit and destroyed his work. Despite the setback, 72-year-old Harding refuses to give up on his mission to combat poverty in New Orleans. He discusses the importance of history, heroes and self-esteem in the black community and explains why making his dream a reality is more important now than ever before.

Still Standing by the Educational Video Center’s Youth Organizers Television (YO-TV) Program is an intimate portrayal of the challenges faced by Hurricane Katrina survivors six months after the storm. Ms. Gertrude, a determined New Orleans homeowner and grandmother, travels regularly from temporary housing in Houston, TX to what remains of her home. Caught in the midst of a real-estate frenzy without insurance money or federal assistance, Ms. Gertrude fights for the right to rebuild.

Her story reveals familiar issues in urban American communities: the neglect of poor and minority neighborhoods, the inadequacy of public assistance to provide long-term solutions, and the struggles necessary to make positive change.