March 27, 2023

BATON ROUGE—New Orleans filmmaker Edward Buckles, Jr. was 13 years old when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Seven years later, he raised his camera to begin documenting the stories of his peers who survived the storm as children.

“Katrina Babies” debuted on HBO in August 2022. The documentary reveals the firsthand narratives of the New Orleans communities and families whose lives changed forever after the hurricane.

Join The Storytellers Lab at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication for a screening of “Katrina Babies,” followed by a conversation with its director/creator, Edward Buckles, Jr., on how he turned his life experience into a life-changing film. The event will take place on Friday, March 31, at 4:30 p.m., at the LSU Digital Media Center Theater.

"I am excited about visiting LSU as a guest artist because I hope to be an inspiration to aspiring filmmakers and artists to pursue their dreams," Buckles said. "During my undergraduate years, I can recall specific guest artists that I got to meet who changed my trajectory and I hope to be the same for the students."

Buckles tells the stories of “Katrina Babies” through oral histories, archival footage and firsthand accounts. The documentary explores not only the aftermath of the natural disaster, but more poignantly, Black mental health, multi-generational trauma and community empowerment.

In 2022, Buckles won The Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director and the Human/Nature Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“As journalists, content creators and storytellers, it is vital to connect our students to those who have made these great impacts in their own communities,” said Asha Winfield, a critical/cultural media scholar at the Manship School and the founder and director of The Storytellers Lab (TSL). "I hope that when our students see this film and hear Buckles’ stories about what encouraged him to turn the camera inward, that it motivates them to do the same in their own work. It is so powerful when we find the courage to tell our stories, and that is what this series is about.”

Register via Eventbrite to attend this event, part of TSL’s “Telling Our Stories” series, on March 31 at 4:30 p.m. at the LSU Digital Media Center Theater (340 E. Parker Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70803).

The event is co-sponsored by LSU’s Department of African and African American Studies, LSU’s Digital Media Center/Center for Computation and Technology, NAACP at LSU and LSU’s African American Cultural Center.

For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu. 

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The Storytellers Lab is comprised of scholars, community members and leaders, students and friends who use interpretative and arts-based qualitative methods to shed light on identity, culture, and society through diverse perspectives and stories. These stories are shared through various methods in order to impact our local, cultural, and regional knowledge. The lab also used documentary filmmaking and photography to collaborate with communities to share their cultural and regional stories. 

LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree.