I’ve seen a number of docs over the past year that deal with the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans. The scope of the disaster is so enormous that it is impossible to capture it within the course of one film. So, I find it helpful to watch many stories to have some kind of multi-dimensional view. Kamp Katrina is an strong addition to this discussion.

Ms. Pearl and her husband, both former drug addicts and currently small business owners who take pride in their 9th ward neighborhood, want to help the residents of their community get back on their feet after the hurricane. They have a big area of property with running water outside so they offer their back yard as a spot for people to pitch tents and live, short-term, while they try to reestablish themselves. They set rules and even employ some of them in their business, but somehow, the people who wind up in their yard are don’t fulfill their end of the bargain. But they are earnest in their loss and grief.

The story is a complicated one. The people who move in and out of Kamp Katrina had devastating life issues before the hurricane and the demolition of their city only serves to knock them down further, but unlike people who had their lives in some order beforehand, how do people who were a mess in the first place manage to recover?

I really appreciated that the filmmakers didn’t attempt to comment, either through participating or through “experts,” on the events that unfolded in front of their cameras. It’s often very difficult to image the various socio-economic strata of humanity that exist even in our own country, and this film places viewers squarely in what is likely to be an alternate reality that you must then interpret on your own. The film doesn’t help the viewer to make sense of a complicated and messy situation, and it’s better for it.

Kamp Katrina is premiering at SXSW, Sat. March 10 at 1:00 PM and Tues., March 13 at 2:30 PM. You can watch a trailer on the SXSW website for the film.