THE LOWER 9: A STORY OF HOME showcases four determined Lower Ninth Ward residents who share their most intimate stories of home, as they resume their lives years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged their neighborhood. Each story finds a voice in a narrative that intersperses contemporary interviews, abstract cinematography of destruction, and powerful scenes of present, everyday lives.

Bordering the Mississippi River to the south and the Industrial Canal to the west, the family centered community of the Lower Ninth Ward was one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The 12-ft levee wall running north to south along the Industrial Canal ruptured in numerous locations, allowing flood-waters to rise above rooftops, destroy homes and cripple the foundations of this historic community.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward was home to more than 14,000 residents, 5,600 homes, numerous schools, parks, medical facilities and businesses. Since Katrina, only 20% of its former residents have returned, one school is operational, the main hospital is non-functional, two of five parks are usable and over 3,500 of the original 5,600 homes are destroyed, abandoned or non-existent.

Entrance into the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood was restricted from August 2005 to May 2006. Nine months after Hurricane Katrina, residents were finally allowed back into the area to discover what was left of their homes and possessions. In May 2006, as residents returned to their destroyed lots they quickly realized they had two options, rebuild or move away.

THE LOWER 9: A STORY OF HOME, winner of the Best Short Documentary Award at the Asian on Film Festival, looks beneath the disaster to reveal the community, personal stories and importance of this tightly knit neighborhood. This is not another Katrina film but a film that looks before the storm to keep the focus and attention on the people and culture of New Orleans and the Lower Ninth Ward.