Spike Lee to Present all of Documentary

Times-Picayune announced today that all of When the Levees Broke will be premiering here in New Orleans on August, 16th:

On The Air

A Requiem in Four Acts.

Saturday, August 05, 2006
Dave Walker

Sheila Nevins, head of HBO's documentary division, said Thursday that the expansion was Lee's idea.

"It's a long night, but it's their night," she said of local attendees. "It belongs to that audience. They all suffered for more than four hours.

"When you talk about length, it's all relative.

"I think Spike's talent deserves the full placement."

Lee is expected to attend the New Orleans screening.

The film will debut on HBO over two nights, Aug. 21 and 22, at 8 p.m.

All four hours will air in sequence Aug. 29 beginning at 7 p.m., the one-year anniversary of Katrina's landfall.

According to Mark Arata, manager of the Arena box office, most of the original allotment of 10,000 seats for the local premiere were snapped up in just two days, at which time the stage-and-screen configuration was changed to add extra seats.

The event's seating capacity, 12,000, was reached July 19, less than a week after ticket distribution began.

A total of 11,353 free tickets were distributed through the Arena box office and Ticketmaster. Lee and HBO have distributed the remainder.

Arata added that ZIP code tracking showed that significant numbers of tickets were reserved by people in Lafayette, Atlanta and other cities known to be destinations for displaced New Orleanians.

"I was excited that there was such an interest," Nevins said. "The interest also encouraged the four-hour decision. It seemed like (local citizens) were ahead of us in wanting to see this."

Show time on Aug. 16 is 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.

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TV columnist Dave Walker can be reached at dwalker@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3429.