Recently, BH’s film class had the opportunity to meet Kimberly Rivers Roberts, a rapper from New Orleans’ 9th Ward who picked up a hi 8 camera at a Pawn shop, and filmed her experiences while holed up with her husband in their attic during Katrina.
Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal followed Kim for sometime as she coped with the aftermath of the storm and appropriated some of Kim’s footage into their own film, Trouble the Water, which went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary. The rapper has since released an album and started her own record label.
The film stands as an important reminder to aspiring filmmakers that the power of influence and interest is not limited to those with the best training or gear – but simply with those who are awake and attuned to the moment of their own story.
Read an interview with Kim here.
