9/11 (2002 film)

9/11 is a 2002 Franco-American documentary film about the September 11 attacks in New York City, in which two planes were flown into the buildings of the World Trade Center, resulting in their destruction and the deaths of more than 2,000 people. The film is from the point of view of the New York City Fire Department. The film was directed by brothers Jules and Gédéon Naudet and FDNY firefighter James Hanlon[1] and produced by Susan Zirinsky of CBS News.

9/11
DVD cover art
Written by	Tom Forman Greg Kandra
Directed by	Jules Naudet Gédéon Naudet James Hanlon
Starring	Robert De Niro as host
Narrated by	James Hanlon
Theme music composer	Richard Fiocca Michael Patterson
Country of origin	United States France
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Tom Forman Jules Naudet Gédéon Naudet James Hanlon Susan Zirinsky, Executive Producer
Cinematography	Jules Naudet Gédéon Naudet James Hanlon
Editor(s)	Richard Barber Michael Maloy Jason Schmidt Bruce Spiegel Mead Stone
Running time	112 minutes
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	March 10, 2002 (2002-03-10)

Plot

Firehouse of FDNY Engine 7, Ladder 1, and Battalion 1

Jules Naudet captured American Airlines Flight 11 striking the North Tower.

Filmmakers James Hanlon and the Naudet brothers were given permission by New York City Fire Department to film a documentary about a probationary firefighter. Their subject was Antonios Benetatos, who was assigned to the Engine 7/Ladder 1/Battalion 1 Firehouse on Duane Street in Lower Manhattan. They intended to make a film about the "probie's" first experiences as a firefighter. On the morning of September 11, the firehouse, under the direction of Battalion Chief Joseph W. Pfeifer, was called out on a reported "odor of gas" at Church and Lispenard streets. Jules Naudet rode with Pfeifer to investigate, while Gédéon stayed behind at the firehouse to film the "probie."

As the Battalion 1 firefighters examined the supposed gas leak, American Airlines Flight 11 flew overhead. Turning his camera to follow the plane, Jules Naudet taped one of only three known recordings of the first plane hitting the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center in the 9/11 attacks. The others were a video shot by Pavel Hlava and a sequence of still frames taken by Wolfgang Staehle.

The firefighters under the direction of Chief Pfeifer were the first responders on the scene. Naudet was allowed to follow the chief during the attempted rescue operation. Naudet, Chief Pfeifer and several other FDNY chiefs were inside the lobby of Tower 1 when Tower 2 was hit by the second aircraft and when Tower 2 eventually collapsed. (Gédéon Naudet was still at the firehouse, where he filmed Benetatos and the rest of the firefighters from the next shift as they tried to deal with the disaster). The film gives various firemen's accounts of the events of the remainder of the day: from the initial crash to the building's collapse, to the attempts to rescue the few survivors from the rubble, as well as the aftermath of the events and acknowledging those who were lost, including Chief Pfeifer's brother, Engine 33 Lieutenant Kevin Pfeifer.

Release and reception

Gédéon Naudet, James Hanlon, Susan Zirinsky and Jules Naudet posing with the Peabody Award for their film 9/11, May 2003

CBS aired 9/11 commercial-free on March 10, 2002, to mark the six-month anniversary since the attacks. It was produced by Susan Zirinksy. The film was watched by 39.4 million viewers, bringing in a rating/share of 22.3/33, and was the highest-rated program that week.[2] Hosted by actor Robert De Niro, CBS's broadcast was repeated on the first annual anniversary as well. The film aired in 103 countries in 2002 alone.[1]

The film was noted for the subjects' use of profanity. Under regular circumstances on American broadcast media, this language would have been subject to censorship by the broadcaster or the Federal Communications Commission. At the time of the documentary's broadcast, the FCC took no action against the network for violating indecency rules, because it believed such action would have a negative connotation and would be interpreted as sanitizing history.

In addition, a recent ruling by a federal appeals court had successfully granted a "temporary halt" to the FCC's enforcement of its indecency rules. This allowed CBS and any affiliates to air the documentary without edits and without fear of facing stiff fines.[3]

The DVD of the documentary was released in proximity, with De Niro's footage edited from it. CBS re-aired the film, hosted again by De Niro, on September 10, 2006, the night before the fifth anniversary of the attacks. This version contained updates from the principal subjects of the documentary, as of 2006.[4]

On Sunday, September 11, 2011, CBS broadcast 9/11: Ten Years Later, once again hosted by Robert De Niro. The aftershow was updated by the Naudet brothers, Hanlon and CBS News producer Susan Zirinsky to include new interviews and footage on the lives of those who had been shown in the documentary ten years later.[5] The program also focused on the construction of the new One World Trade Center, and on the health problems faced by many of the firemen who had served at Ground Zero, where they were exposed to burning contaminants. DeNiro was joined by the Naudet brothers and James Hanlon, a former New York fireman-turned-film director who was also present that day. As with all previous broadcasts of the film, CBS aired repeated viewer discretion warnings before and during the broadcast.

On August 22, 2016, CNN picked up the rights to show the film for the 15th anniversary, executive produced and directed and updates by James Hanlon, this time hosted by Denis Leary.[6]

Awards

9/11 was nominated for and won many awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Informational) and a Peabody Award.[7][8]

References

1. Sherrow, Rita (2011-09-11). "Documentary filmmakers captured moments of 9/11 tragedy". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
2. "TV Listings for March 10, 2002". TV Tango.
3. "CBS's 9/11 Documentary Gets All-Clear".
4. "9/11 (2002) (TV) - News". IMDb.
5. Huff, Richard (2011-09-01). "Former FDNY member James Hanlon recalls steps that brought him to '9/11: Ten Years Later' doc". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
6. Winfrey, Graham (22 August 2016). "CNN Films Picks Up Documentary '9/11' for 15th Anniversary".
7. 62nd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2003.
8. "9/11 (2002) (TV) - Awards". IMDb.

External links

• 9/11 on IMDb