Watched Part 1 of Spike Lee’s "When the Levees Broke" which is billed as a requiem for New Orleans last night on BBC 4. I strongly recommend it and I will be watching Part 2 tonight at 9pm on the same channel.

Lee says he knew he had to make a documentary on the flooding of the city during Katrina when he watched reports of it on the news while in Italy. "I just couldn't believe this was happening right now in America. It was one of those moments where you know someone will ask you years from now, 'Where were you when Katrina happened?' "

What went on there was terrible. People sat on their hands while people drowned and there was bickering over city powers, state powers and federal powers though the Mayor of New Orleans Nagin comes across well. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was shoe shopping during the crisis, do not.

If Part 2 is half as good as the first two hours (Yes! It’s four hours long) then it is one of the best documentaries I have seen in years. Though I do believe that Lee’s documentary promotes the idea that certain parts of New Orleans were flooded deliberately. Just have to wait and see.