Oscar Nominee Trouble the Water Returns For Limited Engagement On SFFS Screen At Sundance Kabuki Cinemas Starting January 31

Powerful Film About a Couple's Terrifying Experience During Hurricane Katrina Nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature

January 23, 2009

San Francisco, CA – Trouble the Water (USA 2008), the critically acclaimed documentary by filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, will return for four matinee screenings on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on January 31–February 1 and February 7–8, 2009.

An 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 hits—just blocks away from the French Quarter but vastly different 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.

Trouble the Water will screen as the first show of the day on SFFS Screen on January 31–February 1 and February 7–8, 2009.  Check http://www.sundancecinemas.com/kabuki.html for showtimes.

For photos and press materials visit: http://download.sffs.org/press/

At the Sundance Kabuki all seats are reserved and an amenities fee is in effect for most shows. Tickets are available through the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas box office, at kiosks in the lobby and online at sundancecinemas.com/kabuki with print-at-home capability. San Francisco Film Society members receive discounted admission to SFFS Screen programs at the box office only (not online or at the lobby kiosks). For this engagement only, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be admitted free of charge upon presenting proper identification at the Kabuki box office.

Coming soon to SFFS Screen:
January 30: The Pope’s Toilet, a heartbreaking and deftly comical look at Uruguayan villagers preparing to make the most of a papal visit
February 6: Heart of Fire, the heart-stopping story of an outspoken young Eritrean girl caught up in the upheaval of war
February 13: The Owl and the Sparrow, a charming story of three lonely strangers who form a unique family, embedded in a thoughtful portrait of contemporary Vietnam
February 20: Just Another Love Story, a violent entertainment involving mistaken identities, adultery and Thai gangsters
March 6: Examined Life, a lively and engaging documentary profile of eight contemporary philosophers

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.

The San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating film and the moving image.

SFFS Screen, the innovative exhibition partnership with Sundance Cinemas, enables the Film Society to present its acclaimed film programs and events at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas year-round on a daily basis.

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