Meet the Academy Award Nominees:Tia Lessin and Carl Deal--'Trouble the Water'

Over the past ten days, we at IDA have been introducing--and in some cases, re-introducing--our community to the filmmakers whose work has been nominated for an Academy Award for either Best Documentary Feature or Best Documentary Short Subject. As we did in conjunction with the DocuWeek^TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase that we presented last summer, we have asked the filmmakers to share the stories behind their films-the inspirations, the challenges and obstacles, the goals and objectives, the reactions to their films so far, and the impact of an Academy Award nomination.

So, to conclude this series of conversations, here are Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, directors/producers of Trouble the Water.

Synopsis: Trouble the Water takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. It's a redemptive tale of two self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall: Twenty-four-year-old aspiring rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts is turning her new video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. "It's going to be a day to remember," Kim declares. With no means to leave the city and equipped with just a few supplies and her Hi-8 camera, she and her husband Scott tape their harrowing ordeal as the storm rages, the nearby levee breaches, and floodwaters fill their home and their community.

How did you get started in documentary filmmaking?

Tia Lessin: In the '80s, a BBC film crew followed me while I was running a labor organizing campaign in my hometown. I was fascinated with what they were doing and ended up asking them more questions than they asked me. Soon after that, I signed up for a course at the community access station, and learned the basics of shooting and editing. I was hooked.

My first job in documentary film was as an assistant editor on a series for the Holocaust Museum in DC. As the daughter of a survivor, the project was deeply personal to me--a way into a history that I had absorbed as a child, but hadn't really understood. It also became my way into film. From there, I went to work for Charles Guggenheim as an associate producer on his Oscar-nominated short film Shadows of Hate and as assistant editor for Arthur Dong on his film about the gay liberation movement. In 1995, I joined Michael Moore's team on TV Nation, which was the funniest and smartest TV show, and way ahead of its time. 

Carl Deal: Tia and I really began our collaboration when I worked with her on Behind the Labels, a film she directed and produced about labor trafficking in the US. I had been working for international broadcast news agencies and covering breaking news in the US and Latin America, and also writing investigative reports for nonprofit policy organizations like Greenpeace and Public Citizen on the side. I was always interested in stepping out of my own experience as a journalist, going to new places and meeting new people; bringing images and sound and music together in a documentary was an opportunity to go deeper into content, and deeper into the human experience. When Tia and Michael invited me to work with them on Bowling for Columbine, and later on Fahrenheit 9/11, as the archival producer, I jumped at the chance.

What inspired you to make Trouble the Water?

TL and CD: As New Yorkers in the aftermath of 9/11, we wanted to help, but felt totally useless after three days answering telephones at the Red Cross in our neighborhood, mostly turning would-be volunteers away. On the fourth day, we began filming the stories of our neighbors in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn--Arab and South Asian immigrants who were being harassed, and in the weeks and months afterwards, we followed many of them into detention and deportation. These were stories that weren't yet being told on the news, and we really felt this was the best service we could offer, documenting this injustice and exposing the wrongdoing of the Bush Administration.

When Katrina came and the levees failed in New Orleans, we were just simply outraged, stunned by the images on TV of people abandoned to the flood in their own homes, in this wealthiest of countries, with no help in sight. Like so many thousands of Americans, we felt compelled to do something, and, guided by our experience in the aftermath of 9/11, we thought that maybe as filmmakers we could help make some sense of it all and force some accountability. With our friend and co-producer Amir Bar-Lev, we assembled a crew, borrowed equipment, picked up donated stock from Kodak, cashed in our frequent flyer miles and went to central Louisiana.

We were motivated by questions like, "Why hadn't the city been evacuated before the storm?" and "Why was help so late in coming after the levees collapsed?" We later found inspiration in Kimberly and Scott Roberts' journey through the aftermath, which was fueled by a hope and optimism that often seemed at odds with their experiences in life. This gave us a window in--an opportunity, we hoped--to help deepen a conversation about race and poverty that Katrina had forced into the national dialogue.

What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did you overcome them?

TL and CD: We have struggled against the perception that this is a film about a natural disaster. It isn't. It's really a life-affirming film about love and transformation, about survival, about beating the odds, and it's set against the man-made disaster of Katrina. The abandonment of New Orleans didn't begin when the levees broke, and it didn't end when the floodwaters receded. That community had been abandoned long before the storm and continues to be abandoned to this day.

So we worked hard to keep the film very personal, to remain true to the voices and experiences of those who agreed to talk with us, both on camera and off. And we tried to make a film that didn't deliver information, but took people on an intimate journey.

We were able to keep it intimate by grounding the first act of the film in the raw and emotional home video that Kimberly shot the day before and the morning of the storm. But getting there was one of many storytelling challenges. Because her camera battery died the morning of the storm, we worried that we couldn't effectively show their four-day journey to higher ground, that if we relied too heavily on that material, it would be a very short film indeed. But when we cut the home video in flashback against the production footage, and brought in other sources of footage of the storm and its aftermath filmed in a similar style, everything began to click. Editor Woody Richman masterfully incorporated 15 minutes of Kimberly's video into the first part of the film, and the entire story, through the storm and its aftermath, feels very personal and intimate as a result.

There was also the struggle to secure financing. We were turned away initially by potential distributors who told us that the country had "Katrina fatigue," and two commissioning executives bluntly told us that they would prefer to see a story with white characters. Another asked us, "This isn't going to be political, is it?" We went forward anyway, without a commission or investors, and pooled small grants from The Sundance Institute, The Open Society Institute and Creative Capital--enough to begin editing and continue filming. Two years after we began, we submitted a fine cut to the Sundance Festival. And then we were really out of money. That's when Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes of Louverture Films saw that cut and Danny immediately asked, "How can I be of service to this film?" They came on board as executive producers, raised finishing funds, and have been partners on this film ever since.

How did your vision for the film change over the course of the pre-production, production and post-production processes?

TL and CD: Our vision for the film changed organically as the story continued to unfold in real time; we always tried to be mindful of what was happening around us in the field, and to be impacted by what was going on in the moment, not just what was in our heads. We began by documenting the return of Louisiana National Guard soldiers from Baghdad to nearby Fort Polk in Katrina's aftermath. We wondered what they would encounter, going from one war zone to what looked like another in their own hometowns. That storyline became secondary after we spent some time on the ground.

The heart of any good story, fiction or nonfiction, is strong characters, and when we connected with Kimberly and Scott, they drew us in immediately; they were full of optimism and on a mission to transform their lives in a time of crisis. They were courageous in the way they exposed themselves to us, asking only that in making the film, we keep it real and not sanitize their story.

For a time, Trouble the Water was going to be more of a gumbo. We shot over 160 hours of footage over two years-interviewed the "experts," followed several soldiers and several other Katrina survivors, and screened 100 more hours of archival material. And while all that certainly informed the story we told, the deeper we got into the edit, the more we felt compelled to keep it small, keep it personal and focus on the journey of Kimberly and Scott.

As you've screened Trouble the Water--whether on the festival circuit, or in screening rooms, or in living rooms--how have audiences reacted to the film? What has been most surprising or unexpected about their reactions?

TL and CD: Trouble the Water impacts people in different ways. For instance, we were surprised when New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin walked out during a screening at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and then, after the same screening, when Senator Mary Landrieu wept and embraced Kimberly and Scott with pride for their city.

The film has played theatrically in over 200 cities so far, and in every screening we've attended--and between us, Danny Glover and Kimberly and Scott, we've covered scores of them--we are approached by people from all different backgrounds who tell us how the film resonates with them.

These are hard times for so many right now, and nowadays, everyone speaks about looking out for the people on Main Street. Well, what about the people on St. Claude Avenue in the 9th Ward? Before Katrina, nobody was talking about them, but since Trouble the Water is also a film about navigating through hard times, through storms big and small, natural and man-made, we've noticed that it resonates with surprisingly diverse audiences right now, well beyond the art-house crowd and the festival circuit.

That includes in New Orleans. We weren't convinced that anybody would turn out to see Trouble the Water in New Orleans, that people wouldn't want to relive the trauma they experienced three years ago. So it was amazing to see the film draw the biggest audiences that the Canal Place Cinema in the French Quarter had seen since Katrina. It played there for five strong weeks, and continues to screen at special events in the city. And we receive e-mails every week from survivors who share their stories, and their responses to the film, and ask us to make sure it is seen and that people don't forget what happened along the Gulf Coast in 2005. We take that very seriously and have built partnerships with organizations working for racial and economic justice in the region and throughout the country that are finding ways to use this film to support their work at a moment when the country is yearning for change.

Where were you when you first heard about your Academy Award nomination? Although it's only been three weeks since the announcement, how do you anticipate this nomination will impact your career as a filmmaker?

TL and CD: We were at the Sundance Film Festival, where Carl was a juror. Kimberly called us first thing in the morning from New Orleans, and we were on the phone together when the news came. We were ecstatic! Truly ecstatic. And deeply honored. What a week that was: We began it in Atlanta screening Trouble the Water at the King Center as part of the celebration of Dr. King's life and legacy. A few days later, the Bushes moved out of the White House and the Obamas moved in. And then Trouble the Water was nominated. It all felt like a dream.

We certainly hope this heightened exposure for the film translates into more support for Gulf Coast recovery. On a personal level, we hope this nomination will help us get the support to make other films.

What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?

TL and CD: We're truly inspired by all the artists in our lives, people who are just compelled to create, no matter what the obstacles--painters, playwrights, novelists, musicians, dancers, photographers. They do it because they just have to, and their work and example gives us energy.

Last week, we had the honor of spending a few hours in our studio with Albert Maysles. The experience of watching a master at work was exhilarating and inspiring, and he took such delight in telling us about the new films he's making. Barbara Kopple's magnificent Harlan County USA--which was co-edited by Mary Lampson, who was an additional editor of Trouble the Water--is a touchstone for us both. And we are always engaged and inspired by Spike Lee's honesty and passion in both fiction and nonfiction, and so grateful for the dialogue he creates on- and off-camera.

Then, there's Michael Moore. Beginning with Roger and Me, Michael kicked down the doors and expanded the possibilities for documentary filmmakers, and for us in particular. Having had the privilege of producing for him on many different films, we have learned that your passions must guide you, you can find humor in the most tragic situations, and to never take "no" for an answer. And we've seen the power that cinema can have to impact a national conversation. And while Trouble the Water is made in a different style than Michael's films, we think his fans will spot several clear homage's to his past work in it.

Trouble the Water will be screening Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills, as part of DocuDay LA, and at 1:00  p.m. at the Paley Center for Media in New York City as part of DocuDay NY.

For more information on DocuDay LA, click here.

For more information on DocuDay NY, click here.