“Happening to a City Near You”: Luisa Dantas on New Orleans and the Craft of Documentary Filmmaking

Abstract

In this interview, filmmaker Luisa Dantas discusses the origins and development of Land of Opportunity, her acclaimed documentary about post-disaster reconstruction in New Orleans. She also talks about the multi-media platform that grew out of this film, and how it connects the discrete experiences of New Orleanians to broader social justice issues facing urban dwellers across the United States and around the world.

Keywords::

• cinema
• documentary filmmaking
• Hurricane Katrina
• New Orleans
• popular education