Documentary Production and Distribution News

"Parker makes a memorable camera subject perfectly suited to Demme's scruffy, affectionate documaking. . . . A worthy addition to the growing body of work on Katrina and its still-ongoing aftermath."�Justin Chang, Variety

In 2005, Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme set out to document the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina and the rebuilding of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. When he met Carolyn Parker, what began as a historical documentary morphed into a vibrant character study of the courage and resiliency of this fearless matriarch and civil rights activist. I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful is Demme's intimate account of Parker's five-year crusade to rebuild her beloved neon-green house, her church, her community�and her life.

The film has its national broadcast premiere during the 25th anniversary season of the POV series on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 at 10 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.) It will then stream on the POV website Sept. 21-Dec. 13.

As the levees broke and the floodwaters of Katrina barreled up the mouth of the Mississippi River, Parker's home in the Holy Cross neighborhood was submerged and her neighbors had to be rescued from their rooftops by helicopter. Parker was pronounced dead in the local newspaper after authorities found no trace of her for weeks. It turns out she was one of the last people to leave her neighborhood under mandatory evacuation, but she survived and took refuge in the Superdome along with thousands of other newly homeless victims of the storm.

Parker gained instant recognition in January 2006 for her public rebuttal of Mayor Ray Nagin, when she railed at him and a committee of experts, promising that if they pulled down her house it would be "over my dead body." As the waters retreated, Parker was one of the first to move back to the Lower Ninth. While she waited for the funds to reconstruct her house, she lived in a FEMA trailer for four years with her daughter. She immediately began advocating for the rebuilding of her cherished St. David's Church, the only Catholic Church that welcomed blacks when she was growing up. It was the glue that held her community together, and its resurrection became a primary mission for Parker.

From dealing with fly-by-night tradesmen to recovering from double knee surgery, Parker's story is underlined by her profound gratitude and good humor. Demme joins her in the tiny kitchen of her FEMA trailer as she makes sumptuous fried chicken and tells stories of cooking for the biggest hotels in New Orleans. In other scenes, she recounts memories of segregated New Oreans; because she was fair-skinned, she was allowed to ride in the front of the bus while her grandmother was relegated to the back.

Demme and his crew made their final visit to film Parker, her son and daughter at the end of 2010. "It was the best visit ever," said Demme. "As we approached the house we started to hear sounds that let us know that the Parkers were finally back home." Parker said it best: "I love New Oreans. I love the Lower Ninth Ward, and I'm not going anywhere."

Resource:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/