SFFS Screen Presents: Trouble the Water January 31, 2009

Trouble the Water (USA 2008), the critically acclaimed documentary by filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, will return for four screenings only on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on January 31–February 1 and February 7–8, 2009 (the first show of the day on each of these dates). Check http://www.sundancecinemas.com/kabuki.html for showtimes.

Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature and winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this astonishingly powerful 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 but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, turns her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors who are trapped in the city. “It’s going to be a day to remember,” she declares. As the hurricane begins to rage and the floodwaters fill their world and the screen, Roberts and her husband 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 failure of government in the face of crisis. Weaving an insider’s view of Katrina with a mix of vérité and in-your-face filmmaking, Trouble the Water is a redemptive tale of two self-described street hustlers who become unforgettable heroes, and seize the chance for a new beginning.

For full, complete and up-to-date information on all SFFS Screen programming, including ticket purchasing, visit www.sffs.org. Information and tickets are also available at www.sundancecinemas.com.