Filmmaker Takes on City Issues in New Documentary

After taking on retail giant Wal-mart and working on films with big name stars in exotic locales, Brazilian Luisa Dantas brought her production company, Jolu Productions, to New Orleans to make a documentary about issues in our post-Katrina city. Since then, she has become enmeshed in the social justice issues and the artistry that makes New Orleans (and a film, for that matter) damning, complex, exhausting and memorable. I interviewed the filmmaker about her documentary, Land of Opportunity: The New New Orleans* .

AB- What is your film background?

LD- I’ve been working in film and television production for over a decade. I started out as an Assistant Director on feature films and commercials in the U.S. and Brazil. Then I went to film school in New York and began working as a writer and producer on everything from documentaries to children’s animated television.

AB-How did you come to making documentaries?

LD-I first worked on a couple of independent docs in Brazil in various capacities from researcher to production manager. Then I worked as co-producer on Wal-Mart: The High cost of Low Price. I devoted a year of my life to that film and it was an intense and eye-opening experience. I decided that my career goals would have to shift to include documentary films with an activist or social change component.

AB- What got you interested in making a film about New Orleans?

LD- Five days after Katrina hit I went to Dallas to work in a Red Cross shelter for evacuees. It never crossed my mind that I would make a film about post-Katrina New Orleans. Then ACORN asked me to come down a few months after the storm to make a fundraising video for their house-gutting program. I was hooked and knew that this would become my life.

AB- What is your film about?

LD-It’s actually a multi-platform project of which the feature film is one component. The project depicts the post-Katrina reconstruction through the eyes of those on the frontlines. We focus on three main areas of the post-Katrina recovery: the planning process, affordable housing, and the influx of undocumented immigrant workers. In addition to the character-driven feature film, there will be several shorter “issue-oriented” pieces to be distributed on the web and in conjunction with grassroots groups who are doing social-justice work locally and nationally.

AB-What’s great about your film?

LD-After filming over two and half years, we’ve been able to create a really in-depth and complex portrait of New Orleans as it fights for its future. I’ve had access to amazing people from all walks of life, from the halls of power to homeless encampments. I’m hoping to show a much more complete story than what the media’s been doing since Katrina.

AB-What have you learned about New Orleans from making the film? How did
it alter your previous notions about the city?

LD-I’ve learned that New Orleans holds the key in many ways to understanding cities across this country and across the world. If anyone thinks that what happened to New Orleans is not relevant to their own communities, they’ve got their head in the sand. New Orleans is both a mirror and a crystal ball for America and it would be wise for people to start paying attention.

I also learned that the real New Orleans bears almost no resemblance to the raunchy boozy tourist persona that’s been marketed to the rest of the world. Like many people, my previous experience of the city had been limited to Jazz Fest.

AB-What’s the hardest thing about making this film in this city? What roadblocks have you encountered?

LD-The hardest thing about making this film has been about the endurance required to keep at it full-time for this long. There’s been no respite. New Orleans is a very intense place right now and it’s definitely not for the feint of heart. I’m Brazilian and it reminds me of Rio in many ways.

AB-Conversely, what does New Orleans lend to the documentary process that one would not find elsewhere?

LD-The unique and authenticity of the culture cannot be replicated anywhere else. This city is a treasure trove of stories and story-tellers. It’s really an embarrassment of riches.

AB-What do you think this film will do for the city?

LD- In my wildest dreams, I hope it inspires a dialogue about where we’re headed in our cities. Do we want to live in democratic spaces where everyone has access to community, social networks, and all the basic human needs like housing, healthcare and education? Or are our cities increasingly going to be playgrounds for the rich and powerful, while the poor workforce gets shunted to the margins?

AB-When do you expect it to be finished?

LD- Some time in 2009.

AB-What else are you working on?

LD- I’m working on a film adaptation of the non-fiction novel Desire Street, which is set in New Orleans in the 80’s and 90’s.

To learn more about the film visit www.opportunityneworleans.com .

Land of Opportunity is the documentary’s working title

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