Product Description While residents along the Southeastern United States boarded their homes and evacuated for Hurricane Katrina, one Mississippi resident saw an opportunity to use his recently purchased video production equipment. Unaware that Katrina would soon demolish his home, a historical art gallery operated by his family, Justin and a few friends filmed a sarcastic prediction of the destruction the storm would cause. Although Justin evacuated just before Katrina hit, he knew there were people trapped on the Coast, including his family. In efforts to find his grandmother, he learned the plight of many others. He quickly focused all his efforts on providing relief to residents in South Mississippi. Armed with nothing more than a trailer laden with donated supplies and names of people's loved ones to search for on the Coast, Justin and his father spearheaded a project that fed, clothed and provided relief to hundreds. Journey into the Katrina Diary of J. Justin Pearce, and see footage of Biloxi from just before Katrina, never before seen compiled storm footage, before and after montages of Biloxi's historical homes, and testimonies from Katrina victims interlaced with Justin's compelling first-hand account of the changes people must undergo when everything they've ever known is stripped away. Review True Katrina Reality TV! Katrina Diary is much more than just a documentary. It's true life Katrina reality TV. --Coast Nightlife Observer Magazine, April 15, 2006This documentary touched home on so many levels. I went to school with several of the people included in this documentary, including the film maker. I was blown away at the accuracy of emotion, and the general good humored nature...'before the storm'. I grew up in Biloxi, St. Martin & Ocean Springs. I was in OS at the time the storm started to roll in, and as as Pearce and Trocesset documented, my friends and family all laughed this storm off, as we'd done our whole lives. Never did we know the chain of events that would occur. We never knew that evacuating on August 28th would mean splitting up friends and family for months and years to come. I never knew that when Jim Cantore said, "Take a look folks...you'll never see it this way again," that he MEANT what he said. I would have taken more pictures. I would have driven down the beach once more. It is nearing three years since this happened, and though so many good things have come from Hurricane Katrina (including meeting my fiance), I still weep when confronted with the reality that we Mississippians all faced. Who knew on August 28th-while we rode the calm before the storm-that we would return to rubble, searching morgues and shelters for our loved ones, and and entirely different way of looking at life as we knew it. J. Justin Pearce put this documentary together not only as a film maker, but as a resident. It was an emotional ride between seeing my home as it was before Katrina, and afterward. Thank you so much for the opportunity to see it from a resident's eyes. --AmazonThis documentary is a raw, first-hand look at the Katrina disaster from a local's perspective. The pre-storm and other previously unseen footage is what makes this film truly unique. Growing up on the Gulf Coast, I have many memories of the Biloxi area and the beauty it once held. Seeing these images from the storm is a very moving experience for me; the coast is almost unrecognizable. Unfortunately, the level of damage was, and still is, ignored by the media. This film definately makes you appreciate the power of nature and makes you think about the things we take for granted every day; especially for those of us still living on the Gulf Coast. I loved the film and would recomend it to anyone interested in learning more about the hardships caused by Hurricane Katrina. --Amazon
