Film tells story of New Orleans woman who opened home to others during Katrina

Don't ask director David Redmon about his documentary "Kamp Katrina," which screens today as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

Redmon says he's not happy with how the film turned out. In fact, he'd like to revisit the 200 hours of footage he shot someday and piece together an entirely new film.

"Someday, I'd like to retell the story. I want to sit down and tell the version of what I saw," Redmon says.

"Kamp Katrina" is Redmon's second documentary, and it continues following one of the people featured in his debut film, "Mardi Gras: Made in China." That would be Ms. Pearl, a resident of New Orleans' Upper 9th Ward, who opens her backyard to displaced residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The problem, Redmon feels, is that he and his girlfriend/partner Ashley Sabin became a big part of the story -- going so far as to live with the people they interviewed and filmed.

"I became really emotionally

involved with the people in the backyard," says Sabin. "I had a hard time separating being a filmmaker and being a friend."

The entire story of "Kamp Katrina" unfolded before the camera. Redmon and Sabin were in Mexico, working on their soon-to-be third film, "Intimidad," when Ms. Pearl called Redmon to tell him about Katrina.

The filmmakers knew there was a story there. They just didn't know where the story was going to take them.

"You watch people's lives slowly fall apart and at the same time try to stay together," Redmon says. "It was a huge, heartfelt experience."

Redmon and Sabin interviewed and filmed people as they came and went from Ms. Pearl's backyard. Sometimes they slept in a tent in the backyard or in the house. The people she took in were required to live by Ms. Pearl's house rules: no drugs, no alcohol, don't break the curfew, keep things clean, work or look for a job and, most of all, contribute to the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Ms. Pearl and her husband attempted to provide resources and paid construction jobs for their wards. But they were forced to deal with the realities of post-Katrina New Orleans -- a dysfunctional economy and an often hostile bureaucratic system.

"The biggest problem?" Redmon says of shooting a post-Katrina story. "I don't know where to begin. Your whole life is rearranged entirely. Everything you once had is gone. The ability to go grocery store shopping is not there. The ability to take a shower is not there ... to flip on a light switch is not there."

Sabin says "Kamp Katrina" doesn't tell the typical story. "We don't want to tell a story that was obvious," Sabin says. "The government failed. That's obvious. We tried to avoid using the storm as an emotional arch."