AUSTIN, Texas — "Trouble the Water," the documentary feature film shot by Radio-TV-Film alumnus P.J. Raval (MFA '04), has been nominated for an Oscar - one of only five nominated documentaries in the feature category, "Trouble the Water" tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband trying to survive the deadly floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina. The film won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival last year and is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

A director as well, Raval was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 new faces of independent film" in 2006 and his films have won awards such as Best Narrative Short at the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Int'l Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Cinematexas Int'l Film Festival, the Betty Nowlin Award for Excellence in Filmmaking and the Director's Award at the Santa Cruz Film Festival.

Raval recently completed "Trinidad," a documentary that uncovers Trinidad, Colorado's transformation from Wild West outpost to "sex change capital of the world." He is completing a narrative feature script called "boys without cars" with screenwriter Gregg Rounds.

The best documentary award will be presented at the Academy Awards ceremony Feb. 22. Learn more about "Trouble the Water." E-mail this article