REFUGE OF LAST RESORT

Refuge of Last Resort - The only Hi Definition Katrina documentary filmed, edited and experienced by the filmmaker.

"Wow....the images Bills captured on film are devestatingly incredible" and " Raw, random moments like this burrow deep in your mind forever"

MORE REVIEWS HERE

Refuge of Last Resort - Second edition, check out the new cover (below), photography by Ariel Pietrello & James L. Bills. Coming this Fall, look for Refuge of Last Resort in HD format!

FEMA Trailers remain unsafe.

Wow big surprise, you mean the guys who lie with every word out of their mouths and sent soldiers to round us up at gunpoint would actually give a damn about a family's health and welfare after the fact? - nope! Wake up, abandon any hope in FEMA, they don't care about any of us, their actions speak volumes.

Clcik the above link for a very well put together New Orleans satirical newspaper - Comedic (but scarily accurate) stories that hit the nail on the head.

Absolut Vodka unveils Absolut New Orleans. 100% of all profits from this product will go to assist in the rebuilding of New Orleans, such as Habitat for Humanity, etc.

Here are some very accurate News reports of Katrina's aftermath.

FEMA's Brownie encounters "Urban Warfare" - Story HERE.

NOPD Officers encountered "Hell on Earth" after Katrina. Read the story HERE.

Hell on Earth hardly comes close in my opinion - Read more Police stories HERE.

You've been told by the Cheif of Police that there were no Katrina related rapes - He lied. Click HERE - or HERE - or HERE.

The sniper at Charity Hospital - Yes this DID happen, read about it HERE.

Prisoners at OPP take a Deputy and his family prisoner - That Story HERE, OPP footage HERE.

The Jena 6 - Story HERE.

New report details U.S. Govt.'s refusal of foreign aid to help victims of Katrina : A new report reveals the US government turned down offers of help from across the globe in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, telling one diplomat "human assistance of any kind is not on our priorities list." Full story HERE .

It was difficult to just shoot this film. Life threatening to be exact. The Press photographers who made their way around the city after Katrina were exceptionally tough and brave - and like us, they had to contend with life and death horrorsevery moment. Click HERE to read an article of their experiences for yourself. Be prepaed to get mad.

Gabriel Black survived Katrina with us at the Parc St. Charles hotel, he has some incredible Katrina & New Orleans photos on his photography site: www.blackangelphoto.com.

Thanks to ALEX JONES for having us on his show

Alex Jones listeners, click HERE for some extra clips and photos. Alex was kind enough to make a documentary on Google video of my interview with him.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ALEX JONES GOOGLE VIDEO

Many thanks to the Rob Bishop Radio program for all of it's kind word on our film. Rob can be heard on the Revere Radio Network.

David Floeter's Music video: "Cry, cry, cry for New Orleans" can be seen HERE. We donated footage from "Refuge of Last Resort" to help raise awareness of the Katrina aftermath in New Orleans.

Helen Hill 1970 - 2007

A Katrina fact sheet - PDF

DONATE TO COMMON GROUND IN NEW ORLEANS

Thanks to "The Randi Rhodes Show", Randi is helping Habitat for Humanity rebuild New Orleans - the link to donate is on her site.

WATCH THE U2/GREENDAY VIDEO "The Saints are Coming"

Al Gomez and I are proud to have supplied footage for this important video!

Donate to COMIC RELIEF Mission: Hurricane Katrina

Click on the image above for FEMA's Bah Humbug to us, Christmas 2006.

OUR WORLD THEATRICAL PREMIERE sponsored by the NOAA/NSSL

Al Gomez and I would like to thank Dr. David Schultz & The NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory for making this possible and we also thank all of the wonderful people in the beautiful city of Norman, Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma who came out to support our film.

http://nwcseminar.nssl.noaa.gov/index.php

Images from our Premiere at the Sooner Theater

While Dr. Schultz and I conducted the sound check, people began

to take their seats in this beautiful 80 year old theater.

Afterwards we had a Q & A for about 45 minutes, then we went

outside of the theater where we chatted for another hour.

Local film critic Adam Scott attended, here are some of the things he had to say about "Refuge of Last Resort":

"Bills' film packs a good wallop... the camera captures many telling images of the disaster, it's aftermath and the shocking inadequacies of governmental and military relief efforts"

We sent a copy of our film to A&E, here's what they had to say:

"Refuge of Last Resort" was very well made, timely and poignant... Ryan Harrington, Managing Producer, A&E IndieFilms.

Al Gomez and I are very proud to have been a part of Spike Lee's HBO Documentary "When the Levees Broke". We were able to contribute some HI Def footage for many of the segments seen in his masterpiece film. This is truly an amazing and epic documentary and I strongly urge you to take the time with your family to watch all four hours this August 29th on HBO. Read Spike Lee's letter HERE.

REFUGE OF LAST RESORT - Private Screening - April 2006

The April 29th screening at The Solomon Ortiz International Center in Corpus Christi, TX could not have been possible without the gracious support of Best Buy, Walmart, Keystone Printing, KTOV-UPN21 & Worksource of the Coastal Bend. Here are some of the comments we recieved after the screening:

"at least we know the truth, and this film has it" - Sandra

"a once in a lifetime event everyone should see" - Toni

"they really nailed it. This film captured everything but the smell of New Orleans, the Superdome footage killed me - an amazing film, bravo." - Kenneth

"it brings the stories even more close to heart, the rest of the country needs to see this unique video" - Darlene

"it was so sad and very very depressing to me, a hard film to watch" - Brenda

"it was an eye-opener, seeing the tragedy of what the families had to go through just to survive" - Juanita/Blanche

"this film is so beautiful and at the same time so hard to watch because it is so raw and absolutley real, everyone should see it" - Mary A.

We had a nice blend of New Orleans evacuees as well as Corpus Christi locals at this screening . What took me by surprise was the "shell-shock" many viewers experienced . Some broke down into tears and others had to leave their seats and stay just outside the doorway to finish watching as emotions overtook them. Thanks to BEST BUY we were able to hand out several dozen free DVD copies of the one hour cut of our film. Keystone Printing in Corpus Christi came through with the "Katrina Survivor" decals which we handed out to everyone who attended.

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS 101

To answer a few technical questions..."Refuge of Last Resort" was shot entirely on a SONY HDR-FX1 1080i HDV Camera - which takes miniDV tapes, using InfoLithium extended capacity (9 hour) batteries. I had no lights or tripods with me at all or I probably would have used them. We charged the batteries using the generator powered outlet which was attached to the emergency lighting in the stairwell of the Parc St. Charles hotel. I had no intention initially of making a Katrina Documentary, so unfortunately 100% of the miniDV tapes came from my storage case and they all had ireplacable footage from "City of the Dead" & the "Tao of M" test footage and Music video. The first edit was completed in September using donated equipment from Apple with the final cut being completed in February of 2006. And yes, in reality Gabriel Black is absolutly as tough as he appears to be.

KATRINA/RITA VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Click on the above logo to visit the LAFASA site

or click HERE to download the LAFASA Financial Aid pdf

We've all had a long road and a good laugh can really make you feel a little more human. I don't know who these guys or gals are, but my wife and I laughed out loud at this site.

Sadly, howtof*ck*ngevacuate.com has pulled their site, shame.

All video of Katrina and her aftermath was filmed by James L. Bills in New Orleans as it happened.

"Contrary to popular belief, this is not a political film, it is the story of what my family endured in the wake of Katrina. It takes no side - it only shows through the camera's eye what we saw happening in New Orleans that fateful week in 2005" - James L. Bills, Director "Refuge of Last Resort"

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"Refuge of Last Resort"

Screener DVD's now available for Distributors and members of the press.

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Distributed by Anthem Pictures http://www.anthemdvd.com/

All images and content may be used by News Media and Weblogs without special permission

Hurricane Katrina - HD video - Hi Definition documentary - Superdome footage - James L. Bills - Al Gomez Productions - New Orleans - Anthem Video