Trouble the Water fills the cover of the New York Times Arts section this morning. Manohla Dargis calls it “One of the best American documentaries in recent memory,” and one of the strongest films in this year’s edition of New Directors/New Films, by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art.

Read all of Voice, Eyes and Camera of Katrina Survivors.

Or listen to New York Times audiocast available below:

More than two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. Although many parts of the city are back in business, other areas – including large swaths of the Lower Ninth Ward – remain under-populated, with far too many brownfields and vacant properties. Yet, a walk through the Lower Ninth Ward also shows the many efforts, by a roster of diverse people, underway to help breathe life back into the Crescent City.

One of the innovative efforts includes Global Green’s Holy Cross Project, which aims to be “to be a beacon of sustainable development for New Orleans and the world.” After the storm, Global Green USA – with Brad Pitt – issued a call for innovative solutions to design a zero energy affordable housing development. The winner, New York’s Workshop/APD, works with residents — including Pam Deshiell and the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association — to create housing that is healthy, affordable, and sustainable. “We aim for this project to meet LEED Platinum standards and carbon neutral,” said Beth Gallente, a member of Global Green project team. The project uses recycled wood for flooring, energy efficient appliances, HVAC systems, energy monitoring systems, and other green design principles. Global Green will build 5 single-family homes and an 18-unit apartment building. Currently, they’re completing a model unit that’ll serve as a prototype for the single-family units.

Check out the project for updates on housing availability and tips on how to make your home a greener place.

“It was estimated that if 50,000 of the homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina were rebuilt according to the green standards of set by the design competition, residents of New Orleans would save $38 million to $56 million in energy bills every year and eliminate over 1⁄2 million total tons of CO2 – the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road.” — Global Green

As you can probably tell from previous EquityBlog posts, one of the highlights of this year’s Regional Equity ‘08 Summit was the plenary panel surrounding “Trouble the Water,” a post-Katrina documentary that earned the top documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

For those who haven’t had a chance to see any clips or hear the heroic stories of Kim and Scott Roberts — the young New Orleans couple at the heart of the film — please take a minute (actually, six and a half minutes) to watch this video dispatch on the Entertainment Weekly web site. You won’t want to miss this film when it is finally released later this year (Check back here and the film’s site for release news)

Blogger, director of the Smart Growth program at NRDC, and recent Regional Equity ‘08 attendee Kaid Benfield shares his reaction to Trouble the Water.

At this point, I bet I’ve seen a half-dozen such films, but this one is the best.

What sets it apart is that it tells the story from the inside out, and from the point of view of a single remarkable couple, Kimberly Rivers Roberts and Scott Roberts, who were stuck in their home Ninth Ward during the storm, hanging on to rowboats and rooftops and trying to help their neighbors, while recording on a home camcorder that Kim had bought on the street for $20 just days before.

Read it all on NRDC’s blog, SWiTCHBOARD.

Related: Summit attendees get a sneak peek at Sundance-winning Katrina documentary

A crowd of more than 1,000 packed the Grand Ballroom at the Regional Equity ‘o8 Summit Thursday to see clips of “Trouble the Water,” a powerful new documentary about post-Katrina life in New Orleans.

Executive producer Danny Glover joined with the film’s directors, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, and the film’s subjects, Kimberly and Scott Roberts for a passionate and inspiring discussion about the film and the issues of equity and equality is raises.

The documentary follows Kim and Scott for more than a year as they face the storm (via gripping hand-held camera work as they were still trapped in their home by floodwaters) and try to recover and start a family. Critics are already raving about the film, including awarding it the Grand Jury prize for best documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

As Glover pointed out, though, the Roberts’ story is not just an tale isolated to post-storm New Orleans. It reflects the inequity and injustice we see all over the country.

“In Detroit, Chicago, New York, communities have been left behind,” Glover said. “This is an epidemic.”

Lessin said she hopes the film can serve as a catalyst for equitable change across the country, as activists, advocates, policymakers and people from the faith community come together to watch the real life struggles of Kim and Scott and strategize ways to create more and better opportunities for all people.

To find out more about the film, please visit the film’s homepage, www.TroubleTheWaterFilm.com.

Producers are eying a late summer or early fall theatrical release.

For more information about what PolicyLink is doing to help Louisiana recover more equitably and how you can help, please check out www.PolicyLink.org/Communities/Louisiana.