When the World Broke Open: Katrina and Its Afterlives

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.