Refuge of Last Resort on DVD

For some reason this film hit DVD and nobody told us. I wanted to see this documentary a year or so ago when I first heard about it, but didnt get the opportunity. The film is I take it similar to Spike Lee's fantastic HBO Special. Al Gomez Productions announces the nationwide DVD release of a James L. Bills documentary film Refuge Of Last Resort, New Orleans' only feature length documentary from a first person perspective. As a video diary, Refuge of Last Resort tells a harrowing story of how James took his family to hurricane proof building in the heart of New Orleans to save them from the ravaging effects of Hurricane Katrina, only to find themselves and thousands of others trapped in the city with no food and water, no emergency services, and no help on the way!

James, a New Orleans resident and local filmmaker, was in pre-production on a feature film when the news that one of the most powerful storms in recorded history was heading his way, "We didn't have the resources to get out of the city in time. So, we grabbed our kids, animals, as much food as we could carry, and went straight to a downtown hotel". Bills had the wherewithal to take his hi-definition video camera with him, and once his family was safely secured, he began to 'document' their ordeal. "We couldn't fathom that New Orleans was going to get hit head on, and neither did many others. As we roamed the streets only hours before the storm hit, people were partaking in hurricane parties in the French Quarter", he relates. "They really didn't know what was coming their way."

Refuge of Last Resort also details the experiences of Gabriel Black, Ariel Pietrello, and Frankie Riley, all residents of New Orleans and the surrounding areas where the flooding first occurred. They each tell their horrifying stories of trying to survive the man made catastrophe after the storm had subsided. In the film Black is interviewed as he holds tightly onto a loaded shotgun and relates, "We soon ran out of food. After a couple of days there was no drinkable water, and the electricity had gone out right after the hurricane. Every night was a dark night. We found ourselves having to survive by whatever means necessary".

The exhausted Ariel Pietrello nervously recalls, "Anarchy broke out in the city. Hundreds of looters took to the streets searching first for food and water, then in a complete frenzy… began to assault anyone who appeared helpless." Frankie Riley, a Chalmette resident only blocks away from a broken levee, sadly speaks of how she and her family suffered from the beginning, "The water came so fast, that we only had minutes to escape. We were lucky that a neighbor came by in a boat, or we all would've drowned!"

Although they were in a 21st Century American city, they found themselves living like refugees from the Dark Ages. It's only with the raw instinct to survive did they discover the will and means to make sure water was found, food secured, and their families protected. With only a few voices that will speak for thousands who will never get the chance, Refuge Of Last Resort is a film that will serve as a reminder of how this could have happened anywhere in the United States, and how we should deal with the best and the worst in all of us!