V –0 08 - Rehoboth Beach Film Society

How is it that Hurricane Katrina managed to revolutionize
American attitudes about the environment, but somehow
the very people most devastated by the storm have become
refugees in their own country, and their experiences have
been all but forgotten? In Trouble the Water, this voiceless
population becomes vibrantly human, as documentarians
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal engage with native New Orleans
filmmaker and musician Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her
husband, Scott, to create a powerful, partly-autobiographical
survival story that reflects many of the lives of the people
of New Orleans. Kimberly’s chilling home footage of her
hometown before, during, and after the storm provides
a petrifying account that essentially rewrites most of the
media coverage of the disaster. Broadcast news stories of
rampant looting are transformed into ingeniously heroic
under Our Skin is a suspenseful and dramatic exploration
of the diagnosis and treatment of a dangerous epidemic:
chronic Lyme disease. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention admit that more than 200,000 people may be
infected with Lyme disease annually, more than new cases of
AIDS, West Nile Virus and Avian Flu combined. The medical
establishment, taking its cue from the Infectious Diseases
Society of America (IDSA)—some of whose members have
disturbing connections to the health insurance industry—state
that Lyme Disease is treatable with antibiotics, and that chronic
Lyme disease is usually psychosomatic. Such a conclusion
gives little comfort to long-suffering patients seeking relief.
Director Andy Abrahams Wilson follows six chronic Lyme
disease patients and a handful of maverick “Lyme-literate”
physicians who risk their medical licenses to successfully treat
trouble the water
Sundance Grand Jury Prize
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Grand Prize
WED NOV 5 5:40 PM-7:15 PM
SPONSORED BY: CAPE GAzETTE
THuRS NOV 6 8:15 PM-9:55 PM
FRI NOV 7 4:45 PM-6:20 PM
SuN NOV9 10:20 AM-11:55 AM
tales of survival, while recent stories of a thriving recovery
in New Orleans are exposed as a false bill of goods sold on
the backs of the disenfranchised. Trouble the Water makes
unapologetically clear that Hurricane Katrina rages on as an
unnatural disaster of governmental and journalistic neglect.
What is also truly amazing is that the levee protecting
Kimberly’s humanity against this devastating storm remains
firmly grounded in her deep-rooted love for New Orleans,
her family, and her art, and her enduring faith in her fellow
human beings.
[Dirs. Tia Lessin and carl Deal, 2007, US, 35mm, 90 mins.]
Website: www.elsewherefilms.org
under our skIn
THuRS NOV 6 4:00 PM-5:50 PM
SPONSORED BY: MRS. PEG DIGGINS
SAT NOV 8 2:45 PM-4:40 PM
SPONSORED BY: SANDI STANAITIS AND DANA SHOTWELL
the condition. The film features pathologist Alan MacDonald,
whose recent breakthrough links the Lyme infection to
microbial biofilms, which would justify classifying the disease
as chronic. Meanwhile, Connecticut Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal recently demonstrated that the IDSA excluded
medical evidence and even contrary views from within their
organization. Disturbing, if not terrifying, under Our Skin is
what Wilson calls “a chilling tale of the pursuit of profit and
prestige at the expense of science and very
sick patients.”
[Dir. Andy Abrahams Wilson, 2008, US, video, 104 mins.]
Website: www.openeyepictures.com/underourskin
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doCumenTary films