Rising from Ruins Movie Trailer

Stay Local! is the group in New Orleans dedicated to fostering support and appreciation for its city's innumerable and special local establishments.

Their presence in New Orleans--a strong and growing one--has inspired a film called "Independent America: Rising from the Ruins".

The film tracks the recovery process in New Orleans, specifically focusing on the local and independent businesses whose owners try, in the face of subsidies given to their large, national chain competitors, to rebuild their customer base, storefronts, lives, and livelihoods.

Watch the trailer above.

The documentary highlights just how disconnected from their physical locations that national chains really are. Unlike smaller and independent local businesses, there is no incentive to return to a ruined city like New Orleans at all. Those locals and independents do not solely focus on that profit motive. Often, it's a matter of heart and determination and love for one's city and its neighborhoods. Even pessimistically speaking, it's a matter of not having the resources to just pick up and leave whenever conditions for business sour (such as with Hurricane Katrina in 2005).

Remember, locals' "corporate headquarters" are based right at home!