Trouble The Water

Surviving Hurricane Katrina

This astonishingly powerful, Oscar-nominated documentary is at once horrifying and exhilarating. Directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 and 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. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her neighbors trapped in the city. As the hurricane begins to rage and the floodwaters fill their world and the screen, Kim and her husband Scott continue to film their harrowing retreat to higher ground and the dramatic rescues of friends and neighbors.

The filmmakers document the couple's return to New Orleans, the devastation of their neighborhood and the appalling repeated failures of government. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verite and in-your-face filmmaking, TROUBLE THE WATER is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.

Nominated for Best Documentary feature at the Academy Awards. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

"Essential, unique viewing: a stunning experience of the hurricane and its aftermath, rooted in immediate personal response and emotions that encapsulate the full national catastrophe." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly