“It’s not about a hurricane, it’s about America.” So goes the tagline of Trouble the Water, a documentary made very much on location, in this case in the eye of the storm that was Katrina, the hurricane that devastated New Orleans in 2005 and left worldwide observers wondering how the United States government had the right to preach equality around the world but couldn’t protect its own citizens in their own back yard.
Trouble the Water is fourth in our series of finalists nominated for the prestigious PUMA Creative Impact Award, which seeks to recognise those documentaries that have made significant social impact worldwide.
At its heart are two self-described street hustlers, who picked up a camera and started filming the day before the storm. As the waters break the levees in the city’s beleaguered Ninth Ward and begin to wreck their home, rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott turn the lens on themselves and their trapped neighbours.
What emerges through the real-time footage, mixed with explanatory news reel, is a sense of community and resilience that left director-producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (previously producers of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling For Columbine and Capitalism: A Love Story) surprised and humbled, but also asking more questions about the way race and class are addressed in America.
The film was Oscar-nominated for best documentary, and has been repeatedly used in political campaigning by lobbyists pushing for Washington’s support in training, advocacy and action.
It also ignited a “Share Your Story” campaign, which gathered hundreds of testimonies from hurricane survivors and constituents.
WATCH:
Trouble The Water is one of the five finalists for the PUMA Creative Impact Award, which recognises the social impact of documentary-making. The winner will be announced in London on 11 October 2011. Each Friday, the Huffington Post UK will feature the finalists in turn - next week: The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court