Documentary on victims of Hurricane Katrina to be shown, discussed Thursday
The UST chapter of Amnesty International is hosting a screening and discussion of the 2009 Academy Award-nominated documentary "Trouble the Water" on Thursday, March 19. The event starts at 7 p.m. in the auditorium, Room 126, John R. Roach Center for the Liberal Arts.
The showing is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a student-moderated panel discussion.
"Trouble the Water" is one of many documentaries that Amnesty International USA promotes because of its human rights and anti-racism focus. AI-UST hopes that this moving and powerful documentary will raise awareness about the ongoing problems of post-Katrina New Orleans.
The documentary, which takes viewers inside Hurricane Katrina, 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, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city.
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 couple's return to New Orleans, the devastation of their neighborhood and the failures of government are documented.
Click here to see a trailer of the film.
For more information e-mail AI-UST president Madeline Coles or AI-UST faculty adviser Dr. Carmela Garritano.