Filmmaker Cami Thomas, facilitator and community organizer Jessica Wernli and 314 Oasis co-founder Stephanie Reynolds have different area codes. They grew up in very different places: Florissant, Chicago and New England. But they share a love for St. Louis. Their lives are also tied together by their work to ensure recovery on the city’s north side, which was hit especially hard by last year’s May 16 tornado.
The short documentary “Red Brick Blue Tarp,” directed by Thomas and produced by Reynolds and Wernli, explores the storm’s physical, individual and community effects through a blend of first-person interviews and visual poetry. Ahead of a free screening hosted by St. Louis Public Radio in the Public Media Commons in Grand Center on Friday, Thomas described her approach to the film as an expression of the heart rather than a stylistic decision.
“There are so many stories that could be told,” she said. “I didn’t want to get lost in just the data or the bullet points or trying to cover every bit of context necessary to actually explain to others what happened and why it happened that way after the tornado — but to get to the soul of the story, the soul of the experience, and really document the details that are often lost to history … the emotional details.”…