DC Area Premiere

A week before Hurricane Katrina hit, Kimberly Roberts bought a camcorder off the street in the Lower Ninth Ward for $20. Little did she know that she would help create one of the most poignant records of the disaster and its shocking aftermath. She did so with the help of veteran filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, whose previous credits include FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and who, like most of us, were forced to watch the Katrina disaster unfold on television. But they refused to let the catastrophe be forgotten, which ultimately led them to Kimberly.

Unable to evacuate, Kimberly and her husband Scott, along with family members and neighbors, had no choice but to ride out the storm. As fierce winds and torrential rain forced all remaining residents off the street, and a rising tide forced the Roberts family to seek refuge in their attic, Kimberly remained true to her chronicle, documenting every detail in the increasingly desperate situation.

Deal and Lessin kept their cameras rolling in the weeks to follow, showing the plight of the displaced, the debacle of FEMA, the beginnings of a reluctant diaspora, and one family’s longing to return home

Trained documentarians know a great subject when they encounter one, and Lessin and Deal quickly let this charismatic subject reveal herself from behind the lens. Lessin and Deal reverentially weave together Kimberly’s footage with their own into an evocative dialogue that reveals a powerful, heart-wrenching, infuriating and ultimately inspiring story of survival.

-Sky Sitney