Trouble the Water (2008) November 12, 2008

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this powerful documentary is at once horrifying and exhilarating. Directed and produced by 'Bowling for Columbine' producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, 'Trouble the Water' takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall - just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. "It's going to be a day to remember," Kim declares. As the hurricane begins to rage and the floodwaters fill their world and the screen, Kim and her husband Scott film their harrowing retreat to higher ground and the dramatic rescues of friends and neighbors. The filmmakers document their return to New Orleans, the devastation of their neighborhood and the appalling failures of government.