''If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise'' is a 2010 documentary film directed by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

, as a follow-up to his 2006 HBO documentary film, '' When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts''. The film looks into the proceeding years since Hurricane Katrina struck the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and Gulf Coast region, and also focuses on the 2010

BP oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and its effect on the men and women who work along the shores of the gulf. Many of the participants in ''Levees'' were also featured in this documentary. It won a Peabody Award in 2010 "for ambitiously chronicling one of the largest disasters in American history, interrogating the well-known narratives and investigating other stories that could have easily fallen through the cracks."70th Annual Peabody Awards
May 2011.

Synopsis

Featured in the documentary are stories about New Orleans' rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including the shuttering and demolition of four public housing projects in the city. The documentary also goes into the story of how the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

looked into allegations of brutality and cover-ups within the

New Orleans Police Department The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts. The NOPD has ...

. Another element in the documentary was the NFL's

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, a team long known for losing for the better half of its 43-year history, as they defeated New Orleans native Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts in

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, and seeing the region celebrating the victory which took place days prior to the annual Mardi Gras celebration. Also included were a federal court ruling in February 2009 that held the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

responsible for poor maintenance of the

Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

, which caused the flooding of New Orleans and its surrounding communities during Hurricane Katrina. Some native New Orleanians who re-located to the

Houston area Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

post-Katrina were also interviewed, and each tells the story about their lives in the years since the hurricane.

Ray Nagin Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane K ...

and

Mitch Landrieu Mitchell Joseph Landrieu ( ; born August 16, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 2004 ...

, the former and current mayors of New Orleans respectively, were also interviewed, specifically about the portion of the documentary which saw Nagin unseated as mayor after eight years, due to his being ineligible to run for a third term.

Interviewees

(partial list) *Shelton "Shakespear" Alexander, New Orleans native, rapper, and poet *

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

, New Orleans-based Grammy-winning

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician *

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Kathleen Marie Blanco (née Babineaux; December 15, 1942 – August 18, 2019) was an American politician who served as the 54th Governor of Louisiana from January 2004 to January 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first and, ...

, former governor of Louisiana (2004–2008) * Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

, historian * Karen Carter, New Orleans politician, member of the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 repres ...

* Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana (2008–2016) *

, mayor of New Orleans (2010–2018) *Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, New Orleans native and actress * Dr. Calvin Mackie, Mechanical Engineering Faculty-

and Founder of Channel Zero; also appointed to

Louisiana Recovery Authority The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) was the governmental body created in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita by Governor Kathleen Blanco to plan for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana. Under the leadership of the founding execut ...

*Jacques Morial, brother of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial and community activist *

Marc Morial Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 as the city's youngest Mayor, President of the ...

, former mayor of New Orleans (1994–2002) *

, former mayor of New Orleans (2002–2010) *

Annise Parker Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...

, mayor of Houston, Texas (2010–present) *

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

, actor and activist *

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

, New Orleans native and actor * Brad Pitt, actor and activist *

Garland Robinette Charles Garland Robinette (born August 21, 1943 in Boutte, Louisiana) is a journalist in the New Orleans area. He was recently the host of "The Think Tank" on New Orleans radio station WWL (AM). Robinette was a news anchor and investigative repo ...

, New Orleans journalist and radio host

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Deepwater Horizon oil spill 2010 television films 2010 films 2010 documentary films Films directed by Spike Lee American documentary films Documentary films about New Orleans Documentary films about disasters Documentary films about Hurricane Katrina Films shot in New Orleans Films set in Louisiana 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films Documentary films about United States history Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Deepwater Horizon oil spill 2010s American films