Following the Katrina devastation, over 600 predominantly African-American New Orleanians were airlifted—not knowing their destination—to the Wonder White community of Salt Lake City, Utah. Desert Bayou follows the evacuees as they live under a suspicious curfew on a military base, open themselves up to a handful of friendly Mormons, and struggle with the impossibilities of displacement from their beloved home. "Questions of race, politics and religion hurdle toward each other in this truly American story." (Full Frame Documentary Film Festival) Liza Johnson's short film, South of Ten, an ennobling re-enactment of quiet recovery along the Gulf Coast, will open the program. More at taprootproductions.com
2006, color, 1 hour 10 minutes, USA