Locked at the End of the World
Article about the short documentary, Locked, by New Orleans filmmakers Daneeta Loretta and Patrick Jackson.
People call a lot of places around here the “end of the world.” First time I heard the term it was on a Grand Isle beach with some friends after the 2010 BP oil spill. The name made sense, especially with our feet sinking in the warm wet sand as we counted drilling platforms in the distance, just down the way from where environmental clean-up crews dealt with the brown tar washed ashore. The moniker came up again for Cocodrie, a dot on the map at the gulf front end of Highway 56, and again for Shell Beach on Lake Bourne and Delacroix Island deep in Saint Bernard Parish. The nickname seems fitting for these places, as to go any further you’d need a boat. Beyond, no infrastructure, no people. Just marsh grass, water, and sky as far as the eye can see. Now, standing on the Industrial Canal levee behind the abandoned Naval Support Activity Base Buildings, I’m confused. Some people call this strip of land the “end of the world” too, but looking out across to the Lower Ninth Ward where I can clearly see (and could converse with if not for the loud hum of a barge floating nearby) a man pushing a cart full of building supplies.
From this vantage point…
