Rather than beat the dead horse that is the Bush administration for its failure in handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Trouble the Water takes a rather fresh approach. After encountering several dead ends from image conscious public affairs officials in the government, documentary filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal meet Katrina-survivors Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott.

In her possession, Kimberly has a handheld digital camcorder with hours of raw footage that spans the moments leading up to the hurricane to the horrific days that followed, when Kimberly, her family and a few neighbors waited to be rescued on top of Kimberly’s roof. Trouble the Water is Kimberly’s story told through her own eyes.

There’s barely a mention of Bush or FEMA chief Michael Brown. The filmmakers set out to make a dramatic movie, not regurgitate old information of how or why the government failed the people of New Orleans. Kimberly Roberts and her neighbors of the lower 9th Ward had already told us.

Grade: A

Trouble the Water will be releases in select theaters Aug. 22.