Independent Weekly. Full Frame.

"If 9/11 was the singular catalyzing event of this young American century, Katrina may well have been the singular paralyzing event." The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival opens in Durham, NC today and runs through Sunday and, as David Fellerath notes in the opener for the Independent Weekly's cover package, more than a few - for that matter, more than a few dozen documentaries have been made or are in the works treating some aspect of the Katrina disaster. 50 were submitted to Full Frame; the fest has chosen nine for its "Southern Sidebar: Katrina."

Fellerath: "What is most striking about these early Katrina documentaries is the portrayal of a bewildering lack of order - our inability to respond effectively to an act of God (who is probably huffing on the fumes of our smoldering fuels). The nation shuddered under the sickening blow of Katrina, and yet, seven months later, we have committed only a fraction of the resources to rebuilding the Gulf Coast region that we have devoted to our ongoing campaign in the Persian Gulf, 7,150 miles away."

With over 100 films screening in four days, attendees may well appreciate a guide to the highlights. Neil Morris provides one, and the snapshot of the current doc scene will interest even those who can't be there. The staff contributes more in this vein.

Grayson Currin spotlights a few with a very personal voice. There's a preview of Al Franken: God Spoke; and Fellerath's brief remembrance of Garrett Scott.

Posted by dwhudson at April 6, 2006 11:25 AM