Nearly 600 New Orleans evacuees may not have had a voice without Taproot Productions’ documentary DESERT BAYOU, which made its premier at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art this evening if front of more than 100 celebrities and VIP guests.
Produced and directed by Alex LeMay of Taproot Productions and distributed by Cinema Libre Studio, DESERT BAYOU tells a story of loss and reunion, of sorrow and rebirth, of anger and rejoicing, but most of all…a story of hope.
Featuring Master P, whose parents were among the displaced and Utah transferred evacuees, DESERT BAYOU centers on the experiences of two families in this group who found themselves not only forced from the only homes they knew, but literally sequestered on planes, plopped into a desert on an isolated military base 45 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, and forced to maneuver in a chess game ruled by members of a predominantly white, racially tense and nearly exclusively Mormon enclave.
Faced with a continued bureaucratic indifference that began following the disaster, the personal stories that emerge from the evacuees add a very human element to a story that was unfathomable by most of the nation and now nearly incomprehensible by those who hear their stories, review news clips of both the Utah Governor, Mayor of Salt Lake City and, comically, a few of the less enlightened citizens of Salt Lake City. The victims’ conflicts and personal growth is portrayed from fear and isolation to discovery and solution.
“DESERT BAYOU gives voice to those victims who suffered the aftermath of a tragedy that evolved on a daily basis,” says director Alex LeMay (THE BULLS OF SUBURBIA). “In the midst of this process, there are chronicles of plenty of good deeds, good people and community; religious and social figures whose good will eventually prevails.”
LeMay’s recently completed documentary, DESERT BAYOU, will open October 5, 2007, at Village East in New York, followed by a platformed release in several U.S. cities. It is distributed by Cinema Libre Studio.
For more information on the film, visit www.desertbayoumovie.com