NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)- Since premiering at the New Orleans Film Festival, the documentary, “Big Charity” is generating big buzz.
At the New Orleans Film Fest, the film took home the Jury Award and Audience Award for Best Louisiana Feature.
“Big Charity” sold-out during the NOFF, but if you didn’t get the chance to see it, you can now with encore screenings at the Joy Theater.
A day doesn’t go by when Alexander Glustrom, the director of “Big Charity” doesn’t think about Charity Hospital.
“It makes me emotional. It changed my life,” he said.
For nearly six years, Glustrom worked on “Big Charity”. He listened to stories from Charity Hospital nurses and doctors all in hopes of uncovering the truth about what happened to the United States’ oldest hospital, after Hurricane Katrina.
“I think people need to know what really happened. Hopefully this film can help to set the record straight. According to military personnel who cleaned up Charity after the storm hit, the hospital could’ve been re-opened,” Glustrom said.
Locked up since Katrina, with a new hospital being build, Glustrom said that his documentary reveals how it was a political decision to not re-open Charity.
“The truth is, it was kept closed in order to obtain FEMA money to build a new hospital. That’s what I heard from the people I interviewed for the film,” he said.
Glustrom hopes when people drive-by that they can know the truth of Charity and why it’s abandoned and closed now.
The documentary was funded through Kickstarter. Many of the nurses and doctors from Charity put up money out of their own pockets to ensure the film got made. They all got together at the Joy Theater for the premiere screening and Glustrom said he was astonished by everyone’s reactions.
“Incredibly emotional. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the whole theater. Many of them hadn’t seen each other since the storm,” he said.
The wounds of why Charity is closed may take time to heal, but this film certainly sheds light on New Orleans’ most iconic hospital.
“I do believe miracles happened at Charity. There’s really something special about that building,” Glustrom said.
“Big Charity” will be showing at The Joy Theater on Friday, February 27th and Saturday, February 28th at 8 p.m. on both nights.
For ticket information, click HERE: