Surviving Hurricane Katrina at the age of 4 created hardship for Terrance Leon George II, but also taught him about the power of filmmaking.
George lived in Gulfport, Mississippi, with his mother and twin brother in 2005 when the deadly Category 5 hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast. While wandering around in the aftermath a film crew from Feed the Kids that was surveying the damage interviewed his family. In this moment, despite facing pain and fear, George found inspiration.
“I remember our house flooding and collapsing. My mom was a single mom, and she couldn’t pick up her last check from work before the storm, so it was a really tough time for us,” George recalls. “While we were trying to find food and other things, the film crew from Feed the Kids found us. I remember watching the guy behind the camera and just thinking, ‘That looks so cool, I wish I could do that.’”
And now, he does. George’s short film, Can I Grow Old, won the faculty jury award at the university’s New Lens Film Festival in 2023 and won Best New Jersey Film at the Bernardsville Film Festival, Best Short Film at HBCU Firstlook, and the Leadership Award from Raritan Valley Community College.
“The film focuses on black-on-black violence but in a way that humanizes both the victim and the aggressor in ways to show how there are so many more elements at play in this dynamic. It also serves as a reminder to our community to see each other as whole beings,” George says.
Read more about George on Rutgers Today.
Excerpted from a story by Evie Duvert
Photo credit: Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University