Documentary Alert: Trouble the Water

Mon, 11/23/2009 - 10:46am by manz

If you’ve read Zeitoun, Dave Eggers’ account of one family’s “adventure” during Hurricane Katrina (which I highly recommend), you may enjoy this Academy Award nominated documentary, which won Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Trouble the Water begins 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina fully hit New Orleans, with 24 year old aspiring rap artist Kimberly Roberts’ hand held video camera footage of the initial onslaught. She and her family decided to stay and brave the storm rather than evacuate with the rest of city. The film interweaves Roberts’ personal footage with that of documentary film makers. The footage is truthful, heartfelt and horrific. The film follows Roberts, her husband, and nearby neighbors before, during and after Katrina, where some of them view the tragedy and severe loss as a doorway to a new life.

I also recommend A.D.: New Orleans after the deluge, a graphic novel by Josh Neufeld. Similarly, it tells true survival stories of seven individuals before and during Hurricane Katrina, as told through fabulous illustrations by the author.