Elements of Post-Katrina African American Documentary Film

This article considers African American documentary film as a site of radical resistance and an archival repository of scenes of African American life. Examining films that emerged out of the crisis following 2005's Hurricane Katrina disaster in the Gulf Coast, the article identifies recurring elements of the African American documentary genre, including an insistence upon Black people's presence. Four Hurricane Katrina–focused documentaries are discussed: Spike Lee's four-part When the Levees Broke (2006), Clyde C. Robertson's The Saddest Days: Katrina Stories through the Eyes of HBCU Students (2007), Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Trouble the Water (2008), and Brent Joseph's A Loud Color (2006).