Hurricane Reflections

When the storm hit and the levees broke, and the administration sat on its hands, the residents of New Orleans struggled through. Some, like the unsinkable Kimberly and Scott Roberts, managed to film it with their video camera. The Roberts' on-the-ground (and, during one frightening sequence, in-the-attic) storm footage is the harrowing centerpiece of Trouble the Water, a remarkable documentary opening today at Tivoli Manor Square (4050 Pennsylvania, 913-383-7756). Filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin follow Kimberly and Scott Roberts through Katrina's buildup, the flooding, and the haunted streets that follow. We meet some who survived, some who didn't, and some who claim they no longer feel like citizens of this country. In the end, Kimberly Roberts, the accidental documentarian, turns to art to find a way to express the magnitude of what she suffered. She raps, powerfully, putting truth to rhyme just as she put it to film. The movie has garnered ecstatic reviews and the 2008 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Don't miss it.
Fri., Oct. 17, 2008