N.O. film receives acclaim: 'Low and Behold' accepted into 2007 Sundance

Filmmakers Zack Godshall and Barlow Jacobs had thoughts of a movie about an insurance adjuster working in a hurricane-ravaged city. Producers normally would have to pay millions to construct such settings.
But Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans provided a background that was all too real.

"It was a real life setting with a lot of people who actually lived through the storm," said Godshall, a Lafayette native and resident. "They were literally trying to rebuild or do whatever they could to get their lives back in order.

"The setting was so immediate. It didn't exist before when it was regular old New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. It's kind of like a documentary of that time and place."

Godshall and Jacob's product, Low and Behold, was impressive enough to be accepted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, the premier showcase of new work by American and international independent filmmakers. The movie will premiere Jan. 21 as part of the festival's American Spectrum section.

"Our No. 1 hope was to get in the Sundance Film Festival," said Godshall, who won a national award for Absolution, a short film done during Festival International. "It's one of the most important independent film festivals in the world.

"It's a big deal for the film and everyone involved. It's the first feature film I directed and the first for a lot of people."

Low and Behold is a narrative about a shy, aimless young man working as an insurance adjuster in post-Katrina New Orleans. The story is based on Jacobs' real-life experience as an adjuster after Hurricane Wilma hit Florida.

Low and Behold went into production in May 2006, eight months after Katrina had devastated New Orleans. The film also includes unscripted scenes involving residents directly affected by the storm.

Godshall said filming in such conditions provided many challenges.

"It was really hard to film because we were in a lot of neighborhoods that were completely abandoned," Godshall said. "There were no bathrooms, nowhere to get anything to drink."

"It was really hot when we filmed in May and June. It was humid and so messy. But we met a lot of good people that were just trying to be positive about it. We actually had a good experience with people."