Beyond the French Quarter (2008)
Beyond the French Quarter is a student production that captures the unconventional accounts of youth volunteers in New Orleans. Follow us beyond the cameras and tourists, as we try to find hope in the areas that still haunt of desolation three years after Hurricane Katrina.
Running Time: 08 minutes 50 seconds
Background of this project
In March 2008, our eight-person production team visited New Orleans. We were all members of Purple Valley Films, an independent student film production company in Williams College, MA. Funded by the College, this project is not only about doing community services and helping with the reconstruction in the region over the Spring Break; it is about telling our peers stories of the City of Jazz three years after Hurricane Katrina. During our one-week stay, we talked to people — college volunteers hammering on roofs, ordinary folks, kids in the neighborhood, the homeless in Tent City — and filmed the interviews. We captured images of the destruction and reconstruction, faces of volunteers and local residents. In the French Quarter there may be parties, neon lights, tourists, fine dining and jazz; beyond that, there is still a lot to be done.
Poster
Credits
Unless indicated otherwise, the following cast/crew are students of Williams College.
Director and editor: Danny Yuxing Huang
Assistant editor: Helen J. Cha
Written by: Steven P. S. Cheng
Narrator: Robert Amster
Music by: Daniel Brett (Public domain music)
Interviews with
- Ian Willson (Co-Founder, Michelle’s Earth Foundation)
- Nate Johnson (Brown University)
- Vicky Ferguson (Elmhurst)
- Jason Zander (Elmhurst)
- Brittany Siegler (Elmhurst)
- Rachel Saetre (Elmhurst)
Interviews conducted by:
- Steven P. S. Cheng
- Thammika Songkaeo
- Fatimah Toure
- Danny Y. Huang
- Ariel Kavoussi
Transcribed by
- Helen J. Cha
- Steven P. S. Cheng
- Ariel Kavoussi
- Kwan Young Paik
- Thammika Songkaeo
Boom operator: Stevie Luther
With special thanks to: Williams College, Williams College Chaplain’s Office, Office of Campus Life, Lehman Council for Community Engagement, Richard Lescarbeau, Liza Johnson, Ian Willson, Volunteers from Elmhurst College (Illinois), Church of the Annunciation (Broadmoor, New Orleans), Duane Nettles (Church of the Annunciation), Paster Keith (St Bernard Parish), Paster Randy Millet (City of Hope Church, St Bernard Parish), Latoya Cantrell (Broadmoor Improvement Association), Malik Rahim, Mrs McGhee, Emily the GPS.