Synopsis:


Coastal Louisiana is disappearing faster than any other landmass on earth.  Between 1932 and 2000, Louisiana lost nearly 2,000 square miles of wetlands-- a landmass the size of Delaware. Every thirty-eight minutes, the equivalent of a football field is lost to the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts also say that the United States’ most vulnerable piece of real estate is also its most important. This disappearing landscape protects and supports the nation’s largest port system, thirty-percent of the seafood, and twenty-five percent of the nation’s oil and gas supply.
           
Paradise Faded: The Fight for Louisiana is a compelling look at the causes, effects, and solutions to the largest environmental disaster in American history; the loss of Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands and the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Director's Bio:


Jared Arsement is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana.  Inspired by Mike Tidwell's book, Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast, he set out to film a documentary about Louisiana's Coastal Wetlands weeks after graduating from the University of New Orleans’ Film Program in the summer of 2004.  A year later, in September of 2005, the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita further justified the need for such a film.

By February of 2006, he had raised enough money to begin filming.  Over the next six months, he traveled throughout the state gathering footage and interviews to tell Louisiana’s story.  His journey even took him to the Netherlands, home of the most sophisticated flood control system in the world, to gain some perspective into what can be accomplished when a people commit to their long-term survival. 

He feels that making this film has been one of the greatest experiences of his life.  The warmth and love of the people who helped along this journey have made him even more passionate about saving his state.

Now that Paradise Faded has been completed, Jared hopes to share Louisiana's story with the nation and continue working to preserve the home he knows and loves.


Participants:


Billy Broussard – Pecan Island resident
Bob Thomas, Ph.D – Loyola University
Denise Reed, Ph.D – University of New Orleans
Huib de Vriend – Delft Hydraulics
Ivor van Heerden, Ph.D – LSU Hurricane Center; Author, “The Storm”
Joel Robideaux – State Representative
Johnny Bradberry –Former Secretary, Dept. of Transportation & Development
Judge Edwards – Vermilion Corporation
Kathleen Babineaux-Blanco – Former Governor
Mark Falgout – Blue Moon Saloon
Nicole Leblanc – Blue Moon Saloon
Peter Persoon – Rijkswaterstaat
Rene Cross – Louisiana Recovery Authority
Scott Angelle – Secretary, Dept. of Natural Resources
Sterling Fryou – Retired Commercial Fisherman
Ted Falgout – Executive Director, Port Fourchon
Thomas Michot, Ph.D – National Wetland Research Center; USGS
Windell Curole – General Manager, South Lafourche Levee District