Who is she?
Kimberly Rivers Roberts was 24 and a sometime hustler (her words) from New Orleans trying to make it as a rapper when hurricane Katrina hit. With no money to leave the city, she started filming on a camera bought for $20. Fifteen or so minutes of her footage have made it into this documentary.
So she made a home movie. What's the big deal?
Well, like a roving reporter from inside the hurricane, she kept that camera rolling even as the water swelled up to the roof, all the while adding her own vocal commentary. Her filming is shaky and rough, but it's also completely gripping, and captures moments of real grace - as well as the heroism of Roberts and her neighbours.
But how did it wind up in a film?
As we see in the documentary, Kim marched up to a camera team in a Red Cross shelter with a bold claim: "This need to be worldwide. Nobody got what I got." She wasn't wrong.
How has it gone down?
Sundance went crazy for the film. It had the audience on its feet and cheering during one scene, when Kim breaks into an impromptu rap after finding a CD of her music she thought had been lost in the storm.
Happy endings all round, then?
You bet, and if you want another one, Kim Roberts gave birth to a baby girl the day after the premiere.
• Trouble the Water is out December 5.
