On Sunday, a 1995 Vicksburg High School graduate will premier her debut documentary, “No Cross, No Crown,” at the sixth annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival.

A.M. (“Amy”) Peters’ film about post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans will be shown at 9 p.m. at the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center.

“Katrina exposed what outsiders don’t see,” said Peters. “I saw New Orleans before Katrina, and I saw the racism, the bad schools — and then I saw the good parts, too.”

Peters has a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Southern Mississippi. While in college, she was interested in environmental racism. Upon graduation, she went to work for ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — a community-based advocate organization for low- and moderate-income families.

In “No Cross, No Crown,” Peters includes local musicians’ and artists’ points-of-view of the aftermath of Katrina. The two-year project of documenting the music and culture of New Orleans, post-Katrina, came after Peters began speaking with native musicians who were displaced to New York City after the hurricane.

The documentary features music with origins in New Orleans including DJ Soul Sister, Kermit Ruffins, author Tom Piazza and Mardi Gras Indian Chief Alfred Doucette.

“I wanted people to feel and see all the different voices because New Orleans is a patchwork,” said Peters.

In the documentary, Peters wanted to not only show the physical damage of Katrina, but wanted to also capture the damage to the spirit of the New Orleans culture.

“I did not want it to be angry, political or partisan,” she said.

“No Cross, No Crown” is Peters’ first feature film, but she has dabbled in animation and shorts. While growing up in Vicksburg, she enjoyed hearing local bands play.

“I think Vicksburg is the kind of town you want to grow up in,” Peters said. “They accept a lot of people.”

Peters is the daughter of John and Bonnie Peters of Vicksburg. She resides in Staten Island, N.Y.

She hopes the people of New Orleans like her work and aims to “take the film all the way. It says what I wanted to say. I got a lot of experience from it.”

Peters’ next project is a sequel to her animated short film, “Jack Quack (The Path).”

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchanprasith@vicksburgpost.com.