Nicolas Cage talks with community leaders in New Orleans about the disaster-plagued region in a video produced by Amnesty International.

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"People in the Gulf Coast have the right to return to affordable safe housing," said the film star, who participated in Amnesty International's annual general meeting in New Orleans last spring and is among Amnesty International's celebrity luminaries.

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, also speaks in the film, urging the U.S. government to put human rights at the core of the response to this year's BP oil spill and future disasters, to avoid human rights violations similar to those that occurred after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped through the area five years ago.

The video was released along with an update to Amnesty International's April report, "Un-Natural Disaster: Human Rights in the Gulf Coast," which claims the oil spill is compounding the ongoing recovery from Katrina and Rita for the region's most vulnerable residents.

Cage has appeared in several movies shot in New Orleans and he occasionally lives there. Two of his homes in the city went into foreclosure and sold at auction due to alleged non-payment of millions of dollars in federal taxes. Cage sued his business manager claiming he didn't properly handle his money, but the manager counter-sued alleging he strongly advised Cage to stop living beyond his means.