IndependentFilm.com

NEW YORK, NY and NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Low And Behold, a narrative film about a shy, aimless young man transplanted into post-Katrina New Orleans in the unlikely role of an insurance claims adjuster, has been selected for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, the premier showcase for the best new work of American and international independent filmmakers. Low and Behold will premiere on January 21 as part of the festival’s American Spectrum section, which presents more adventuresome genres of independent filmmaking.

Filmed on location in New Orleans in May 2006, Low And Behold was made by Zack Godshall (co-writer/director) a Lafayette, LA native, and New Orleans resident Barlow Jacobs (co-writer/producer/lead actor). The filmmakers made a point of assembling a cast and crew almost entirely made up of Louisiana natives, even filming non-actors in their actual storm damaged homes. “We knew that having a team that had felt the full impact of Katrina would help bring the story to life in the most authentic way possible,” says Jacobs.

Jacobs found inspiration to write and later act in Low and Behold from his own life experience. After losing his New Orleans home to the disaster in August 2005, Jacobs took a short-term job as an insurance claims adjuster. He immersed himself in the culture of the post-hurricane Coastal South and translated some of his most powerful experiences to a film script. Using the money he earned as a claims adjuster, Jacobs returned to New Orleans and made Low and Behold with director and co-writer Zack Godshall.

“Being residents of Louisiana, Barlow and I wanted to do something that would openly address the situation for those who live in New Orleans and the surrounding areas,” says Godshall. “We worked intensely in what was left of Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes, and found that the actual environment offered more than we as writers could have ever dreamed. Our film is a comedy and a celebration, but also an elegy and a lament for all the losses that cannot be counted and the suffering that will not cease but can only be soothed. Even still, there is a spirit in this place that will not die, and I hope we’ve captured that in Low and Behold.”

Low and Behold is also made possible by Sidetrack Films, which provided financing for the film’s post-production. The William Morris Agency is handling North American sales for Low and Behold at Sundance.

The filmmakers are currently securing sponsors for their Sundance premiere.

For more information about Low And Behold, visit www.lowandbeholdmovie.com.