Madison O'Friel, Unsplash

New Orleans on Film: HBO Debuts “Katrina Babies”

12:00 August 11, 2022
By: Esther Boone

HBO is set to release its full-length, New Orleans based documentary Katrina Babies on Wednesday, August 24 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The investigative film, directed by native New Orleanian Edward Buckles Jr., looks into the ongoing impact of Hurricane Katrina on the generation of youth most affected by it.


Director Edward Buckles Jr. was only thirteen when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, disrupting his own young life as well as the lives of hundreds of thousands of others. While his film delves into how the tragedy of Katrina changed an entire city, Buckles focuses most intently on how the storm uprooted, rearranged, and ruined the childhoods of many "Katrina babies" for whom his documentary is named. Poignantly aimed at understanding the horrific and unique generational trauma of these New Orleans kids, Buckles' film also looks at how the resilient nature of the city and its youth allowed for the vibrant re-imagination of life post-storm.


Like all things New Orleans, Katrina Babies contains multitudes, capturing all the horror, hope, loss, and love that accompanies the stories of its subjects. Switching between harrowing hurricane footage, heartbreaking confessional-style interviews, and classic shots of the culture that remains, Buckles' film paints an accurately complex portrait of the 2005 tragedy and its still-evolving aftermath.


Katrina Babies debuts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 24— just days before the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina itself. It will first air on HBO, and will be available to stream on HBO Max. Tune in to witness the honesty and power of Buckles' first-ever film and the power and resilience of the city of New Orleans.

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