Important: By downloading images you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity of The Museum of Modern Art's and MoMA PS1's current and upcoming exhibitions, programs, and news announcements. Permission to use images is granted only to the extent of the Museum's and MoMA PS1's ownership rights relating to those images—the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. The images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
When the World Broke Open: Katrina and Its Afterlives
August 27, 2025 – September 21, 2025
The Museum of Modern Art
When the World Broke Open takes a cinematic look at New Orleans—a city of pleasure, politics, and pulsating prose that lives in the heart of anyone who seen its beauty—before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that continues to change American life 20 years later. This series, curated by New Orleans native, Katrina survivor, and programmer Maya S. Cade and critic and programmer K. Austin Collins, also explores how Katrina became the blueprint for who is protected in the aftermath of natural and unnatural disasters, as enduring infrastructural failures and climate catastrophes continue to ravage the country and the world.
Guest curated by Maya S. Cade, film programmer, and K. Austin Collins, critic and programmer. Organized at MoMA by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, and Francisco Valente, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Film.
Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by Debra and Leon D. Black, with major funding from The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
Press Kit
Images
Always for Pleasure. 1978. USA. Directed by Les Blank. Courtesy Janus Films.
If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise. 2010. USA. Directed by Spike Lee. Courtesy HBO.
Cat People. 1982. USA. Directed by Paul Schrader. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
Deepwater Horizon. 2016. USA. Directed by Peter Berg. Courtesy Lionsgate.
Beasts of the Southern Wild. 2012. USA. Directed by Benh Zeitlin. Courtesy Criterion Pictures/Anuvu.
The Becoming Box. 2011. USA. Directed by Monique Walton. Courtesy Monique Walton.
Treme: Do You Know What It Means. 2010. USA. Directed by Agnieszka Holland. Courtesy HBO.
J.D.’s Revenge. 1976. USA. Directed by Arthur Marks. Courtesy Park Circus.
Louisiana Story. 1948. USA. Directed by Robert Flaherty. The Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive, New York
Belle of the Nineties. 1934. USA. Directed by Leo McCarey. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. 2006. USA. Directed by Spike Lee. Courtesy HBO.
Trouble the Water. 2008. USA. Directed by Spike Lee. Courtesy HBO.
Time. 2020. USA. Directed by Garrett Bradley. Courtesy Amazon Studios.
In the Electric Mist. 2009. USA. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Courtesy Swank.
Hot Pepper. 1973. USA. Directed by Les Blank. Courtesy Janus Films.
Eve’s Bayou. 1997. USA. Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Courtesy Lionsgate.
Down By Law. 1996. USA. Directed by Jim Jarmusch. Courtesy Janus Films.
Descendant. 2022. USA. Directed by Margaret Brown. Courtesy Netflix.
Déjà Vu. 2006. USA. Directed by Tony Scott. Courtesy Swank.
Bury the Hatchet. 2010. USA. Directed by Aaron Walker. Courtesy 7th Art Releasing.
Black is… Black Ain’t. 1995. Directed by Marlon Riggs. Courtesy Frameline.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. 2009. USA. Directed by Werner Herzog. Courtesy Swank.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. 2023. USA. Directed by Raven Jackson. Courtesy A24.
12 Years a Slave. 2013. USA. Directed by Steve McQueen. Courtesy Criterion Pictures/Anuvu.