It was almost three years ago when Scott and Kimberly Roberts found themselves stuck in New Orleans on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. Having no readily available means of getting out they gathered together their limited supplies and fired up their camcorder. The results are beyond what anyone suspected.
As many of us did at the time, they tried hard to document their experience. Little did they know that a flood of almost biblical proportions would rage through the streets around their 9th Ward home. As their home filled up with water supplied by the recently failed levee, they kept on filming. The results will be available Friday, August 22nd, when Trouble the Water opens in Los Angeles and New York (nationwide in September).
It is fortunate that Katrina hit us in an era when technology has made documentation like this possible. Camera phones and video cameras have allowed a much more intimate view of the disaster than any prior era could offer. This is an opportunity to be on the inside for a moment, to put yourself in the shoes of one of us.
It has now been almost three years since the city sank, Atlantis like, beneath the waves. There is still devastation everywhere, and social injustice (often based on race) is an ongoing problem. Watching this film will help you understand why we have to ensure that the ongoing racial and economic injustices are part of our national dialogue.
One of the most repeated memes I have heard consistently since the deluge is “If this had happened to a wealthy white community there would have been an effective response.” Granted it is usually expressed in somewhat more visceral language, but I do my best to remain a “G rating” here on the blog. This feeling, and its ubiquity here in New Orleans, is indicative of the issues of race and class that are woven into the fabric of American existence, particularly in the Deep South. Katrina and the diaspora that followed have thrown those aspects of the tapestry of our culture into sharp relief.
Here is a little bit from the press release:
The film, directed and produced by Fahrenheit 911 producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal and executive produced by Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes, won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and was hailed by Manohla Dargis of The New York Times as “one of the best American documentaries in recent memory.”
Here’s what other critics had to say about the film:
“INDELIBLE! Will pin you to your seat.”
–Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
“MIRACULOUS!… Ineradicably moving.”
–David Edelstein, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
“Trouble the Water celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit.”
–Miki Turner, ESSENCE
If you’re in New York or Los Angeles, don’t miss the premiere of Trouble the Water. Check out the theaters screening the film and buy your tickets today:
There are a lot of Katrina documentaries out there, from Spike Lee’s phenomenal work When the Levees Broke on down the line. This is, as far as I now, the first one that includes footage taken by those flooded in during the storm. Give it a view, and enhance your understanding of what the real impact of the storm was…
No comments yet.