9/11: The Twin Towers

9/11: The Twin Towers; Inside the Twin Towers
	A computer-generated image of United 175 about to hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, from Stanley Praimnath's office on the 81st Floor. Mr. Praimnath is shown hiding under his desk.
Genre	Documentary; History; Docudrama
Written by	Andrew Bampfield
Directed by	Richard Dale
Starring	William Hope
Narrated by	Harry Pritchett (DSC); Terence Stamp (BBC) ; Jean Reno (France TV)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Editor(s)	Peter Parnham
Running time	90 minutes
Release
Original network	Discovery Channel; BBC One
Original release	September 3, 2006
External links
	Website

9/11: The Twin Towers (also billed as Inside the Twin Towers) is a television special documentary film which uses re-enactments and computer-generated imagery to re-create a minute-by-minute account of what happened inside the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City during the September 11 attacks. In the United States it premiered on the Discovery Channel on 3 September 2006, narrated by Harry Pritchett. In the United Kingdom it premiered on BBC One on 7 September 2006, narrated by Terence Stamp.

The film won the 2007 British Academy Television Craft Award for Sound Factual, and was nominated (but did not win) for Editing as well.[1] It was also nominated for the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Made For Television Movie.[2]

Premise

The documentary revolves around several WTC workers/rescuers as they retell their experiences from the 9/11 attacks, beginning from the moment of when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center to the aftermath of the collapse of both Twin Towers.

Plot

Frank De Martini and Rick Bryan

Frank De Martini is the construction manager of the World Trade Center, for helping rebuild the building after the 1993 bomb attack. He and two other co-workers, Pablo Ortiz and Mak Hanna began going up the North Tower to rescue trapped workers. They eventually came to the 89th floor where they rescued several trapped workers including Rick Bryan, a manager at MetLife, and secretary Dianne DeFontes. De Martini sends Hanna down the tower with an injured, elderly Port Authority worker on his back while Bryan and his co-workers begin to make their way downwards. Making their way towards the impact zone, De Martini and Ortiz report structural damage that could lead to catastrophic results. Bryan and his group are nearly out of the building when they feel the tremors caused by the South Tower's collapse. They manage to make it out alive along with Hanna. De Martini and Ortiz are both killed when the North Tower collapses. 77 people were saved thanks to their efforts, including Bryan and DeFontes.

Christine Olender

On the morning of the attacks, Christine Olender is in charge of a conference at Windows on the World, a restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. She calls the PAPD for help several times as the smoke from the impact zone leaks onto their floor. She sends Melanie de Vere and two other delegates who are attending the conference up to the roof to try and evacuate from there, but the doors are locked and Port Authority employees in a command center on the 22nd floor of the building are unable to remotely unlock them due to damaged systems. Eventually, people begin jumping to their deaths to escape the flames. Christine makes three more calls for help afterwards, but neither she nor anyone else from Windows on the World is heard from again after 9:40 AM. Olender, de Vere and everyone else in or above the North Tower impact zone eventually lost their lives that day.

Harry Ramos and Hong Zhu

Harry Ramos and Hong Zhu were two workers from May Davis on the 87th floor when Flight 11 hit. While Ramos and a few other co-workers decided to evacuate, Zhu opted to stay in his office and wait for instructions. He eventually gives up by 9:00 am and chooses to evacuate. He meets up with Ramos around the 59th floor along with another stockbroker named Victor Wald, who made it down 24 flights above from around the 83rd floor. On the 52nd floor, Zhu volunteers to try an elevator to speed up the evacuation. It works, but only goes down to the 44th floor sky lobby. Once they reach the Sky Lobby, Zhu and Ramos learn from passing firemen that the Pentagon got hit and that the day's events are all part of a terrorist attack. Wald calls a random woman and tells her to pass a message on to his wife, Rebecca, telling her that he's okay. When he learns about the Pentagon attack, Wald theorizes that Al Qaeda is behind the attacks. Firemen escort the Zhu, Ramos, and Wald to another stairwell. After the collapse of the South Tower, the trio were on the 36th floor when Victor said he could not move anymore. Zhu, determined to escape, started yelling and cursing at Wald, and a member of a small group of firemen ascending past them likewise yelled at Zhu to leave. Afraid for his life, Zhu took his advice and fled, while Ramos stayed behind to help Wald. Zhu ultimately made it out alive, while Wald and Ramos both died in the collapse of the North Tower. Ramos was the only person from May Davis who did not survive.

Jay Jonas

Jay Jonas, Captain of Ladder 6, is one of several New York firemen who went into the North Tower to save trapped workers. After the South Tower was hit, Jonas and his group were given clearance to start ascending the stairs to reach trapped workers. While taking a rest on the 27th floor, the South Tower collapsed, shaking the North Tower. Jonas immediately decided that they too needed to evacuate. They encounter a woman named Josephine Harris who is suffering from a bad leg, so he decides to bring her with them. They were still inside the North Tower when it collapsed, but miraculously survived as the part that they were trapped in survived the collapse. They were eventually rescued by fellow firemen five hours later.

Al Smith and Jan Demczur

Al Smith and Jan Demczur were trapped in an express elevator in the North Tower along with several other workers. Realizing that the walls were made of sheetrock, Demczur used one of his janitorial tools to chip a large hole into the wall. They managed to bust through the wall and into a washroom on the 50th floor. A fireman directs them to a functioning elevator where Al convinces Jan not to take the stairs, arguing that it would take too long. They all manage to make it out alive.

Stanley Praimnath and Brian Clark

Stanley Praimnath worked at Fuji Bank on the 81st floor of the South Tower. Before his building was hit, he attempted to evacuate with several other employees fearing for their safety, but was instructed by security guards in the lobby to return to his office. Stanley was on the telephone in his office when he saw a commercial airliner approaching him. Just before the plane struck the building, he screamed "Lord, I can't do this, you take over!" and dove under his desk. In the impact zone, Praimnath miraculously survived the explosion and crawled along the burning floor, but was stopped by an upright sheetrock wall.

Fire Warden Brian Clark was a few floors above him, who worked at EuroBrokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower, and was making his way down with a handful of other colleagues who survived the initial impact when a man and woman coming up the stairs stopped them and told them that the stairs below were impassable. As he and his workers debated on what to do, he heard Stanley Praimnath shouting for help in the ruins of his office and decided help him. Unfortunately, all but one of the employees he was with died when they decided to head up. Clark made his way into the office and pulled Praimnath over a sheetrock wall he was stuck behind. Praimnath thanked Clark for saving him and told him that they would be brothers for life. They managed to get down the stairs and evacuate the South Tower shortly before it collapsed. 23 workers from Praimnath's company Fuji Bank lost their lives, as did 61 workers from Clark's company EuroBrokers.

Alayne Gentul

Alayne Gentul was Director of Human Resources at Private Banker's Fiduciary Trust. She was on the 97th floor of the South Tower when the second plane hit along with several other co-workers. She calls her husband Jack and relays information on what she and her co-workers were trying to do in light of the situation. Jack tells Alayne and her co-workers to hit the sprinkler systems to try to get some water flowing, but were unsuccessful. Knowing that she may not make it out, Alayne tells Jack to inform their sons that she loved them. After hanging up, Jack calls his local priest and asked him to set up a prayer chain. Alayne and her co-workers were killed in the collapse of the South Tower.

Cast

Terence Stamp as Narrator
William Hope as Harry Ramos
Robert Ashe as Victor Wald
François Chau as Hong Zhu
Stuart Milligan as Frank De Martini
Denica Fairman as Nicole De Martini
Teddy Kempner as Pablo Ortiz
Sakalas Uzdavinys as Mak Hanna
John Wesley as Al Smith
Serge Soric as Jan Demczur
Nate Reese as Stanley Praimnath
Robert Jezek as Brian Clark
Richard Laing as Captain Jay Jonas
Alibe Parsons as Josephine Harris
Miquel Brown as Dianne DeFontes
Trevor White as Rick Bryan
Debora Weston as Alayne Gentul
Andrius Zebrauskas as Ed Emery
Antony Edridge as Male Delegate
Charlotte Comer as Melanie de Vere
Laurel Lefkow as Christine Olender
Suzette Llewellyn and Eleanor Matsuura as the North Tower Security Operators

International broadcast

Country	Channel	Premiere date
United States	Discovery Channel	3 September 2006
United Kingdom	BBC One	7 September 2006
Russia	Channel One	2006
France	France 2	4 September 2006
Spain	Cuatro (TV channel)	2007
Australia	Nine Network	2006

gollark: This isn't very much, but if the logic for displaying biome on eggs and other places is separate, that shows that there might be some code duplication.

gollark: It's kind of worrying that `Cave` is shown, given what it says about the internals.

gollark: Odd.

gollark: And not halloween or something.

gollark: Huh, I just noticed that my eggs are listed as being from *cave*.

References

"Craft Winners in 2007". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
"Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2007 - Outstanding Made For Television Movie". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 11 September 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Craft Winners in 2007". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2011.

[2] "Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2007 - Outstanding Made For Television Movie". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 11 September 2011.