“Desire” chronicles story of New Orleans

Julie Gustafson, an award winning independent documentary film maker, presented her film “Desire” at the Pat Peterson Museum Education Room in the library Thursday, November 13 at 7pm. The showing was free, refreshments were provided, and a question and answer session was held at the film’s conclusion.

“Desire” showcases five female teenagers from varying economic backgrounds, education, and race in New Orleans shortly before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city. Cassandra and Kimeca reside in the urban Desire housing project. Tiffanie is a single mom and high school dropout from a rural working class background. Tracy and Peggie attend prestigious private schools.

Gustafson highlights life-changing experiences, including teen pregnancy, graduating high school, and attending college. The film calls the following questions to attention: does where one lives indicate what will come of one’s life? Do the desires of young women reflect their environment? Does economic status determine desire?

For the entirety of the first year spent in Desire, the community was reluctant to expose their culture and lives to Gustafson, and chose to ignore her attempts to capture the lives of young Desire women. Gustafson said, “Finally, a group of women that were important in the community told me to give back to Desire. I was funded on small grants and had nothing to give. They said, ‘No, not money! Teach the children!’” Gustafson not only gained the cooperation of Desire, but was inspired as how to create her documentary.

Gustafson gave cameras to each of the five featured girls, taught them how to use the equipment, and let them film events and circumstances that were critical to their young lives. The girls taped their stories which ranged from cigarette addiction, teen pregnancy, sexuality, eating disorders, unhappy homes, divorce, and fear of the future.

The overall result is a multi-faceted narrative that combines the individual short films with supplemental footage shot by Gustafson. The shorts cohesively intertwine into a depiction of life of young women with a variation of perspectives. Each young woman’s family, economic status, sexuality, race, and other factors influence their decision making and their desires in life.

As an audience member of the viewing, third year Jared Williams said, “I thought it was smart that she took ideas from different backgrounds from the same city because she got people from different walks of life. She drew ties from prestigious high schools to trailer parks to inner city projects.”

Gustafson plans to revisit her former subjects. Gustafson said, “I want to update the film. The women are in their late twenties and early thirties and Kimeca and Tiffanie’s children are 12 and 13. All this happened right before Katrina so I want to tell an even more comprehensive story.”

“Desire” won the 2006 New Orleans Film Festival Awards of Best Documentary, Best Louisiana Film, and the Grand Jury Prize and Al Gore’s “Reel Current Award” at the 2006 Nashville Film Festival. “Desire” is an enlightening and thought provoking documentary that showcases the troubles, triumphs, and lives of real life young women.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 14 2008. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry