'When the Levees Broke'

A Spike Lee Documentary About Hurricane Katrina

Sam Pollard, producer and editor of "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" was online Tuesday, Aug. 22, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the Spike Lee documentary for HBO about Hurricane Katrina and how it has affected the people of New Orleans.

Acts I and II premiere Monday, August 21 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by Acts III and IV on Tuesday, August 22 at 9 p.m. All four acts will be seen Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00 p.m. - midnight) on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

TV Preview: Breach of Faith ( Post, Aug. 21)

A transcript follows.

____________________

New York, N.Y.: Mr. Pollard:

Kudos to you and Mr. Lee for your tremendous work on this compelling piece. How many interviews and how much footage did you and Mr. Lee have to go through in order to create your "Requiem in Four Acts?"

Sam Pollard: Spike shot over 100 interviews and shot over 500 hours of material. It took us six months to go through all of that to create the four hours.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I thoroughly enjoyed last night's viewing and looking forward to seeing the conclusion tonight. I saw the theory of the levess being exploded was touched on last night. Is there any physical evidence (bomb fragments, etc.) that may support or disprove this theory?

Sam Pollard: I think what Spike wanted to do was get across what the people in the community have been brought up with -- this myth that the levees in previous hurricanes have been blown up. The reality is, they were blown up in 1927 and that's on public record but those who felt that there was an explosion in Hurricane Betsy of 1965 ... that was never proven but people tend to still believe that and they carried that over to Hurricane Katrina.

But people should understand that we state in the film very clearly from Mark Moriel that there's no substantial evidence to prove that that the levees were blown up during Hurricane Katrina. It's all conjective.

But I want to conclude that Spike felt that the voices of the people -- no matter if they believe it or not -- their voices should be heard.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Dear Mr. Pollard,

You and Spike Lee did a fantastic job. Did you learn anything about the disaster while working on the documentary that you didn't know before?

Sam Pollard: Yes. What I learned was that the levees had been worked on for last 40 years and they still were not up to the specs that could withstand even a category two hurricane. Quite honestly that I didn't learn but was reinforced by the film that we live in a culture now that the gap between the haves and the havenots is growing wider and wider and if you're poor and a person of color then you could be in real trouble when you need help from the federal government.

_______________________

Harrisburg, Pa.: It is my understanding that there still is much work to do both to improve the levees and that New Orleans remains vulnerable to a similar disaster should another hurricane hit. Is this correct? How much improvements have been made and what remains to be done, and finally, why hasn't what needs to be done gotten done?

Sam Pollard: Yes, I thin that when you watch parts three and four tonight what you'll come away understanding is that even in eight months' time the rebuilding of the levees is probably still not done to a level that could protect the city of New Orleans. What you'll be amazed by, which will be explained in Act IV tonight, how a country with less resources than the U.S., can create a leveee system that works.

_______________________

Pittsburgh, Pa.: I wonder if it was hard keeping your own emotions in check while making this film. To hear some of the stories, just heartbreaking. And it just made me angry all over agin at the federal, state, and local response to the storm and it's aftermath.

Also, how did you select the individuals you featured in the piece?

Sam Pollard: I'm a professional filmmaker who's been doing this for over 30 years and I try not let the material I work, whether it be the levees or four little girls dying in Birmingham overwhelm me from what I need to do which is my job.

The selection of the interviews was the extraordinary work done by our researcher, Judy Aley, who would get names from Spike who he heard about and wanted to find and she did some phenomenal leg work finding everybody that Spike wanted.

It was a combinaton of reading articles and hearing about stories. Then there were other people who talked to him, a variety of sources he got names from.

_______________________

Boston, Mass.: Excellent job thus far in Acts I and II. Has Lee's approach to the subject thus far impressed enough people to take this documentary seriously or just invite the typical "Spike Lee Fan" to watch and possibly no other interested viewers?

Sam Pollard: Quite honestly, I think this is one of those Spike Lee films that's attracting people who are not normally interested in Spike Lee films.

_______________________

Vienna, Va.: I am currently reading "Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster" and watched the first part of the show last night. That our government could so blatently lie about knowing what was going on, disregard an entire segment of our population and then say it was the fault of the people who didn't leave makes me disgusted to call myself an America. Thank you for making this movie. I wish it would change the way we treat those who are not white and well off but I know it won't and that makes me very sad. What can the average american do to make sure this never happens again?

Sam Pollard: I think what we all need to do is just be more aware of people in need and learn to give and share more and not be what most Americans learn to become which is completely individualistic and self-involved.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: The documentary has been fantastic so far! But it seems to make some pretty bold claims, namely, there seems to be an inference to the intentional breaching of the levees similar to that during Betsy in '65.

The residents of the area commented that while they heard loud booms, they attributed the noises to barges crashing and the levees breaking open. None of them outright charged anyone with blowing up the levees, though.

Is this a conspiracy theory? Or am I misinterpreting?

Sam Pollard: I think that the idea that conspiracies exist ... we've lived in this country long enough going back to when I was 13 years old and when John Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald and Dr. King assassinated by James Earl Ray ... and even though, in those two particular cases people say there was no conspiracy ... but it seems to me that nothing ever seems to happen in a vacuum. Even right now there's no hard and true facts about the levees being blown up and Spike says anything is possible in America.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: What was the real reason why residents weren't allowed to cross into St. Bernard's Parish? I was confused by the reasons that were given by the President of that parish.

Sam Pollard: I think that the city officials in Gretna just were concerned that they couldn't contain or deal with people who were in such desperate situation coming into their community. So instead of wanting to deal with people who were hungry and desperate, they said stay out. It was like they were from another country. It was like they were Haitian or Cuban boat immigrants wanting to come to America and being turned back. It's outrageous.

_______________________

Status of Justice Dept. Probe...: The thing that struck me the most was the retelling of the story about how some New Orleanians tried to walk across that bridge and were stopped by armed men who refused them passage into and through their city to safer grounds. When I heard that last year, I honestly thought it was a rumor or hoax. I'm glad Spike Lee addressed it and verified that the event did happen. Spike also did a good job by having Mitch Landreau address the issue and provide some insight (reprehensible and lamentable) as to the to the other peoples feeling or state of mind. It was alluded to in the documentary that those armed men may have been city or parrish police officers and that there was a law suit/Justice Dept. probe into the matter. How is that coming?

Sam Pollard: I don't think there's been anything finalized on the lawsuit as of yet.

_______________________

Union City, N.J.: You must have had so many stories you wanted to tell but couldn't based on time constraints. Can you tell us one that didn't make the final film but we might see as a deleted scene one day on DVD?

Sam Pollard: I think we put all the best stories into the documentary. I don't think there were any others as compelling as Herbert Freeman losing his mother or Kim Polk losing her daughter or Terence Blanchard taking his mother back to her demolished house.

_______________________

Mt. Rainier, Md.: I commend Spike Lee on the excellent quality of the Katrina story. He documented much more truthfully than the mainstream media by bringing the faces of the hurricane to us through the personal accounts of those who were "in the hurricane." I cried several times while watching the film and then became angered that local and state officials could not quickly organize a rescue effort for the citizens of New Orleans. The people featured could have been me and my family. I now accept and conclude that if a natural diaster or terrorist attack hits again -- and it will -- American citizens are on their own. Do you not agree?

Sam Pollard: Yes, simply yes.

_______________________

"if you're poor and a person of color":"then you could be in real trouble when you need help from the federal government." Could you tell me how the federal government treated the uppermiddle class New Orleanians during Katrina better? Thanks.

Sam Pollard: No, not that they treated them better but if you have money and you have the wherewithal to have finances, you weren't there, you weren't in the city. You left.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: is it just a rumor that crocs ate people during Katrina?

Sam Pollard: Yes, it is a rumor. Some people said that in the film but it's a rumor and unsubstantiated.

_______________________

Oakton, Va.: I am not usually into "Spike Lee Films" but I found last night's broadcast captivating. I used to live in New Orleans, and my heart is breaking all over again. Do you have any idea how many people have moved back to rebuild?

Sam Pollard: I almost think that maybe a fourth of the population hasn't returned.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: Excellent job! The documentary shows that the federal government is not only incompent but uncaring about the average working citzen. Has there been any response from the Feds about the documentary? Where any top level officials (outside of Blanco and Nagin) interviewed or did they decline?

Sam Pollard: I think Condi Rice declined. Gen. Honore wanted to do an interview but then he was told that he couldn't.

_______________________

Upper Marlboro, Md.: I don't have HBO for a variety of reasons; will this be on DVD or another venue soon?

Sam Pollard: Yes, DVD.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.