New Orleans Music in Exile (2006) [Blu-ray]

Documentary "New Orleans Music in Exile" examines how deeply Hurricane Katrina and the city's breached levees affected the local music community.

Thanks to timely support from Starz, producer-director-editor Mugge and his crew (producer Diana Zelman, cameramen Dave Sperling and Chris Li, audio person Seth Tallman, and production assistant/photographer Rob Mugge) managed to survey what was happening in New Orleans and several other cities as the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina was still unfolding. As Mugge has said, "While in New Orleans, shortly after Katrina, it was clear we could have pointed our cameras in any direction and found powerful stories to tell. In fact, the devastation was so overwhelming that we were grateful we had decided to focus solely on what happened to the New Orleans music community, because that was a story of manageable scale, yet one which suggested the breadth of the larger human tragedy."

New Orleans Music in Exile was first shown at the Memphis International Film Festival on March 23, 2006. On May 13, 2006, it was premiered at Canal Place's Landmark Theatre in New Orleans, followed by a private reception and concert at Tipitina's French Quarter, where Starz executives presented two $50,000 checks to the Tipitina's Foundation for their "Instruments A Comin'" and "Hurricane Katrina: Artist Relief" programs. The 114-minute film then premiered on the Starz in Black channel on Saturday, May 19, 2006 and on the main Starz channel a day later.

Official Synopsis: When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, filmmaker Robert Mugge and his son Rob were living in Jackson, Mississippi. Mugge was just completing a two-year run as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and preparing to develop a music filmmaking program for Delta State University. Then the storm came, and all bets were off.