Trouble The Water
angela
Poster for Trouble the Water.
I have tried and tried to begin this entry as diplomatically as I can but I simply am not succeeding. How does one write about Katrina without trashing the US government? It’s pretty impossible. So, I am not going to write about Katrina. Instead I am simply and directly going to ask that you see Trouble the Water.
This powerful documentary follows Scott Roberts and Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, who turns her video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
On Friday, I went to see Imagenation’s screening of the film at The Faison Firehouse Theater. Yes, I knew the film was going to be important but I didn’t know how moving and funny and uplifting it would be. The Scotts are truly a find and exhibit such an incredible spirit. And the filmmakers tell their story beautifully while keeping their finger on the politics of that not so distant past.
The experience of seeing the film in Harlem—with an almost entirely black audience—was pretty powerful. I so rarely have this experience. I didn’t mind when people felt compelled to shout or clap or comment during the screening. It needed to be done.
This film honestly and truly reminded me why I love making documentaries. You can catch Trouble the Water at the IFC or The Faison Firehouse Theater in New York. It opens nation wide a little later.
(A postscript: I realized that I wrote an article for MediaRights in 2005 entitled “Independent Filmmakers Respond to Katrina” that featured the producers of the film.)
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| Posted on August 26, 2008
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