Mine (2009)

Mine had its World Premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival where it was very enthusiastically received. Mine compliments the many fine films that have been made about the tragedy of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. Whereas a film like Spike Lee's remarkable film, When the Levees Broke provides a broad account of the flood, Mine focuses in a single and often overlooked aspect of the tragedy: the fate of the house pets – particularly the dogs – left behind in New Orleans, because the owners weren't allowed to evacuate with them. Mine is beautifully and lovingly filmed. It introduces us to a series of different pet owners and tells of their struggles to recover their dogs, who are really members of their extended family. The importance of pets to people's lives is explored and we see the heroic efforts of the animal lovers who try to rescue the pets and reunite them with their owners.

Through this lens of the lost pets of New Orleans we see many of the social divisions of American society play out as New Orleanians, often with very limited means, attempt to recover their beloved lost pets. Some are even forced to file lawsuits in an attempt to recover their lost "property." This film should be widely viewed as our country attempts to grapple with the infinitely complex and continuing social consequences of the man-made tragedy of New Orleans. Perhaps this deeply personal angle will open the eyes of some Americans to the deep and unending personal devastation caused by our government's response to this long-anticipated disaster. This beautiful, inspiring film deserves to be widely seen.