Vancouver International Film Festival Coverage ‘08

Title: Faubourg Treme

Directed By: Dawn Logsdon, Lolis Eric Elie

Length: 68 Minutes

Country: USA

Rating: (G)

Reviewed By: Robert Waldman (Vancouver Correspondent – Canada)

Good things can come out of setbacks.  Who can forget the trauma inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.  Fresh in our minds are the harrowing images of New Orleans residents trying to come to terms with their ordeal.  Journalist turned director Dawn Logsdon takes us on an unforgettable journey to the former French Quarter and delves deep into the origins of this region with Faubourg Treme, an inspiring documentary.

Smart use of archival footage and documents outline the Black experience then and now.  Odds are good that most people had no idea of how Afro-Americans were treated in this region in the early twentieth century and during the Reconstruction era.  Back then members of New Orleans’ black population actually had a host of rights that other blacks across the fledgling U.S. did not possess. During this 68 minute odyssey we see the great contributions this community made to New Orleans.

Interviews with current residents of this fabled quarter explain how a once proud region was subjected to the heavy hand of white justice in a real telling tale of injustice.  You do sense that feeling of community that has still stayed with many descendants of the founding fathers of these neighbourhoods in  this hard-hitting tale of the history of this once great city and how a population suffered various indignities and managed somehow to proper where their national brothers and sisters didn’t.

Insightful without being sentimental Faubourg Treme is a first class documentary and a must see for those who care about history and culture.

Show Times:  Thursday Oct. 2  3:00 PM Empire Granville 7 Theatre

                       Friday Oct. 3   8:45 PM  Empire Granville 7 Theatre