{{Film
|titoloitaliano = When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
|immagine=300px|
|didascalia=La New Orleans Arena, dove fu presentato in anteprima il documentario
|titolooriginale= When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
|linguaoriginale= inglese
|nomepaese= Stati Uniti
|annoproduzione= 2006
|durata= 240'
|tipocolore= colore
|tipoaudio= sonoro
|ratio= 
|nomegenere= documentario
|nomeregista= Spike Lee
|nomesoggetto= Spike Lee
|nomesceneggiatore= Spike Lee
|nomefotografo= Cliff Charles
|nomemontaggio= Barry Alexander Brown, Geeta Gandbhir, Nancy Novack, Sam Pollard
|nomemusicista= Terence Blanchard
|nomeproduttore= Spike Lee, Sam Pollard, Mike Ellis
|nomeattori=  
*Harry Belafonte: se stesso
*Terence Blanchard: se stesso
|casaproduzione= HBO
|nomepremi=
*2006 Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia (sezione Orizzonti, premio Diritti Umani)
*2007 Emmy Awards (miglior produzione, miglior regia, miglior montaggio)
*2007 Image Awards (miglior miniserie TV)
*2007 Peabody Awards
}}
'''''When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts''''' è un documentario del 2006, diretto da Spike Lee.

Ha vinto il premio Orizzonti alla 63a Mostra internazionale d'arte cinematografica di Venezia.

È stato definito da un dirigente dell'HBO come ''«uno dei documentari più importanti prodotti dall'HBO»''.<ref name="libroAUTOBIOGRAFIA">Spike Lee, Kaleem Aftab ''Questa è la mia storia e non ne cambio una virgola''. Milano, Kowalski editore, 2005.</ref> 

La critica cinematografica ha considerato unanimemente il documentario un capolavoro.<ref name="libroAUTOBIOGRAFIA"/>

In Italia è stato trasmesso in due parti su Raitre.

{{Infobox Film
 | name           = When the Levees Broke
 | image          = WhenLeveesBrokeTitleFramegrab.jpg
 | image_size     = 
 | caption        = The logo for the documentary shows the title on a depiction of a damaged New Orleans street sign
 | director       = Spike Lee
 | producer       = Spike Lee <br/> Samuel D. Pollard 
 | writer         = 
 | narrator       = 
 | starring       = 
 | music          = Terence Blanchard
 | cinematography = Cliff Charles
 | editing        = Barry Alexander Brown <br/> Geeta Gandbhir <br/> Nancy Novack <br/> Samuel D. Pollard
 | distributor    = HBO
 | released       =  August 16, 2006
 | runtime        = 255 min
 | country        = USA
 | language       = English
 | budget         = $2,000,000 US
 | gross          = 
 | preceded_by    = 
 | followed_by    = 
 | website        = http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/
 | amg_id         = 1:345875
 | imdb_id        = 0783612
 }}

'''''When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts''''' is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana due to the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. 
The film runs for 4 hours, and  premiered at the New Orleans Arena on August 16, 2006.  The television premiere aired in two parts on August 21 and 22, 2006 on HBO.  The film was shown in its entirety on August 29, 2006, the one-year anniversary of Katrina's landfall. It has been described by an HBO executive as "one of the most important films HBO has ever made."

The documentary was also screened at the Emmys, and it won three on September 16.

The title is a reference to the blues tune "When the Levee Breaks", by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie (later repopularized by Led Zeppelin) about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

The film's original score is by Terence Blanchard, a New Orleans-born trumpeter who also appears in the film with his mother and aunt as they return to their flooded home.

The documentary consists largely of news footage and still photos of Katrina and its aftermath interspersed with interviews. Interviewees throughout the film include politicians, journalists, historians, engineers, and many people from various parts of New Orleans and the surrounding areas who give first hand accounts of their experiences with the levee failures and the aftermath.

The first installment opens with a photo and film montage of historic and recent New Orleans scenes with a soundtrack of Louis Armstrong performing Louis Alter's "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans". At the end of the last episode is a similar montage with Fats Domino's "Walking to New Orleans" on the soundtrack.

In the style of Michael Apted's Up series, a documentary series that interviews Apted's subjects every seven years, Lee has planned to interivew the interivewees in ''Levees'' at least once more.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/arts/television/03leve.html Agony of New Orleans, Through Spike Lee’s Eyes - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Synopsis==
The film focuses on the forever changed lives of New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina hit. The film shows the citizens in the midst of disaster dealing with death, devastation and disease. In a statement made by director Spike Lee about the film he states, "New Orleans is fighting for its life. These are not people who will disappear quietly - they're accustomed to hardship and slights, and they'll fight for New Orleans. This film will showcase the struggle for New Orleans by focusing on the profound loss, as well as the indomitable spirit of New Orleaneans." [http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/synopsis.html] 

This particular documentary is Spike Lee's third, preceded by 1997's ''4 Little Girls''  and 2002's ''Jim Brown: All-American''.