A community’s story, told by the people who lived it.

A Place Called Desire shows how two powerful, catastrophic disasters took aim at a once tight-knit community, made worse by the lack of movement from local, state and federal governments.

Contrary to what the public was led to believe, there was a sense of normalcy growing up in the community of Desire. It was self-contained: churches of various denominations, public and private schools, shopping, eating establishments, food trucks, parks for children to run and play, and community centers for after-school tutoring and activities.

Homeowners shared streets with renters, and many families in government-subsidized housing dreamed of homeownership. Birthday parties in shaded backyards, grass mowing, vegetable gardens and life outdoors were constant happenings. But Desire’s seniors were housed in an apartment complex on land that would later be labeled a Superfund site, and the students of a neighborhood elementary school were exposed too. Then came Hurricane Katrina.

Since 2008, filmmaker Leonard Smith III, who grew up in Desire in the 1960s and ’70s, has recorded the people who know this story best. The result offers, in the words of historian Dr. Al Kennedy, “many unforgettable history lessons” and “shares hard truths with a gentle touch.”