HBO recently announced that it will produce and air a follow-up to When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee's epic 2006 portrait of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. The production, which shooting January 15 in New Orleans, is slated to air this August to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.
Lee is on board to produce and direct the film on behalf of his company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, and Sam Pollard will produce and edit; Terence Blanchard returns to compose the score. When the Levees Broke aired on HBO a year after Katrina, and went on to receive three Emmys and the IDA Pare Lorentz Award.
"When the Levees Broke was a landmark in documentary filmmaking," noted HBO executive producer Sheila Nevins, in a statement. "It's an exciting notion to anticipate Spike going back for this reprise."
"Sam Pollard and I are elated to return to New Orleans and the other Gulf States to pick up where we left with When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," said Lee. "This coming August 29, 2010, will be five years since one of the greatest American tragedies. If God is willing and the creek don't rise, we will reach the same level of heartfelt stories--human stories told by the great people of The Gulf States."
The new film, as yet untitled, will revisit some of the people who appeared in When the Levees Broke to find out what has happened to their lives since then. The documentary will look at the progress and failures in education, housing and population relocation, and spotlight New Orleans' indomitable spirit. Going beyond the boundaries of the city, the film will also visit the devastated Gulf Coast area.