Lee will air a four-hour HBO documentary on the city's survival after the hurricane.

Director Spike Lee will air a Hurricane Katrina documentary miniseries next month, the result of the emotions he felt after watching video images of the disaster last year.

"They looked like they were from a Third World country - not from the almighty United States of America," Lee told reporters on the Television Critics Association press tour this week. "I knew this was going to be a major moment in American history, and I wanted to do something about it."

The documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts airs as a four-hour, two-night miniseries August 21-22. The series includes news footage taken during the hurricane and its aftermath, along with interviews with citizens, historians and government officials.

"We let the individuals tell and guide the story," Lee said. "That's what filmmakers, good filmmakers, do. I wanted to record the raw feelings of these people."

Known for films including Do the Right Thing and Inside Man Lee said the wrapping of his documentary does not mean the end of the events still occurring in New Orleans.

"We do not know what's going to happen to New Orleans...This is not the final statement. This is a living, breathing story that will go on."

Kevin Manahan