Tonight, September 20, 2012, Jonathan Demme’s I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful premieres on POV (check your local listings). The documentary is a vibrant character study of the courage and resiliency of a fearless matriarch and civil-rights activist trying to rebuild her home in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Read what critics are saying about I’m Carolyn Parker:
“Marvelous…You are not just observing somebody’s life, but spending time in her company..a reminder of Mr. Demme’s unassuming, ardent humanism…The movie’s subtle, powerful argument is that Katrina was not—should not be, for any American—something that happened to strangers…[Parker] is undoubtedly someone you should know.”
— A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“A compelling portrait of how people recover from catastrophic events…Parker’s indomitable spirit intrigued Demme from the moment he first spotted her.”
— Kathy Finn, Reuters
“If you care about Americans struggling to survive in the poorest corners of our country, then don’t miss Carolyn Parker. She’s pushed the front door open for the filmmakers—and for the rest of America, too.”
— David Crumm, ReadTheSpirit.com
“Moving and intimate…A cut above most nonfiction explorations of Katrina, thanks to the ever-empathetic Demme’s talent for showcasing the uniquely human qualities of every person he films.”
— Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
“Parker makes a memorable camera subject perfectly suited to Demme’s scruffy, affectionate documaking…this small screen-bound item reps a worthy addition to the growing body of work on Katrina and its still-ongoing aftermath.”
— Justin Chang, Variety
Watch I’m Carolyn Parker tonight on PBS. (check local listings), or stream it online for a limited time starting Friday, September 21, 2012.
Then visit us on Twitter @povdocs, Facebook, or our companion site for I’m Carolyn Parker to tell us what you thought of the film.
Keep up with all of this season’s films and get alerts when videos are available for streaming at http://pbs.org/pov, on Twitter @povdocs or on Facebook.
