In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, two filmmakers, drawn together by outrage, take a sixty-day road trip from New England to New Orleans. Along the way they meet evacuees and witness the loss, dignity, perseverance, and humor of people who have become exiles in their own country. The Axe in the Attic documents the natural and human landscape of Katrina and how evacuees adjust to new environs – some achingly familiar and others wholly alien. Having lost everything, they seek safety and comfort however they can. Amid the grieving and isolation, family, church, cell phones, and consumer goods become life support. The breakdown of trust between a government and its citizens, the influence of race, class, and gender – as well as the ethics of documentary filmmaking itself – form the backdrop for this universal story of the search for home.