New to DVD this week:
BIG CHARITY: THE DEATH OF AMERICA’S OLDEST HOSPITAL
Director:
Alexander Glustrom
Premiere:
New Orleans 2014
Select Festivals:
Atlanta, Louisiana
About:
The story of corruption that brought down the longest operating hospital in the US.
Glustrom’s project is at once a requiem to a New Orleans institution and an investigation into its controversial closing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Charity Hospital served the city for nearly three centuries, providing health care for the poor when other institutions wouldn’t. During Katrina, staff and patients weathered the storm without food, water, or power, but in its aftermath, questionable decisions motivated by political forces led to Charity’s demise. Despite its truncated length, Glustrom’s film remains compelling, and speaks to broader issues around health care, economics, and class that extend far beyond Louisiana.
what (not) to doc 