Product Description: Eleven acclaimed directors each make an 11 minute short film in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, bringing their unique points of view and distinct voices to confront this climatic event. The result is a daring and moving global cinematic reply that "forces us to look at the entire event afresh." (The New York Times)
Featuring Films by:
Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel) Mira Nair (Vanity Fair) Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) Sean Penn (Into the Wild) Shohei Imamura (The Eel) Samira Makhmalbaf (Blackboards) Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) Youssef Chahine (Alexandria...New York) Amos Gitai (Kippur) Idrissa Ouedraogo (Yaaba) Danis Tanovic (No Man's Land)
Honest, raw reactions from the world I saw this movie when it first came out in 2004 in France, I saw it again at a film festival in DC, and I am proud to own it now. The 11 short films presented reflect honest, raw emotions about September 11 from around the world. I appreciate the viewpoints presented, especially the ones that portray how others related to the tragedy through their own pain and suffering. I appreciate that these are truly reactions, and not simply sympathetic vignettes.
When it was Happening, Where were You? Eleven different Film Makers from different parts of the world are assembled in this film to present thier views and ideas about the WTC attack. This is one of the best effort you will see in any Film. Films like this are rarely made and appreciated. This film tries to touch every possible core of WTC. Here are some of the most important stories from the film that makes this film so unique.
There is the story from Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran) where somewhere in Iran people are preparing for the attacks from America. There a teacher is trying to educate her students by informing them about Innocent People being killed in WTC massacare. Then comes a story from Youssef Chahine (Egypt) where a Film Maker comes across face-to-face conversation with a Dead Soldier in the WTC attack and a Dead Hard Core Terrorist who was involved in WTC attack. Then we see a story from Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso) where a group of Five Innocent childrens sees Osama Bin Laden and plans to kidnap him and win the reward money from America. Then we see the story from Alejandro Gozalez Inarritu (Mexico) where you see a Black Screen and slowly you see the real footage of WTC buildings coming down. And the people who are stuck in the building are jumping out of it to save thier lives. The other most important story is from Mira Nair (India) where a mother is struggling to get respect for her Dead Son whose name is falsely trapped in WTC massacare!
After September 11 attack, Our heart beat automatically starts pumping if we hear two names anywhere in the world.. First is World Trade Centre and the second is Osama! This film totally changes our perception and makes a strong point by claiming something more to it.
I will definately recommend this movie to everyone who loves to have such kinds of Home DVD Collection. Definately worth every penny you spend. But please don't expect anything more apart from Films in this DVD. There is ofcourse Filmographies of the Film Makers but No Extra Features.
Garbage This movie seemed like a series of the worst student films I have ever seen. In addition, some of the acting was the worst since the invention of film. Avoid this garbage as if it was an on-coming semi truck.
Eleven Views "September 11"
Eleven Views
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
Eleven directors from eleven countries have each contributed an eleven minute short film about the events of September 11, 2001 on an amazing new DVD, "September 11" from First Run Features. This is more than just a film--it is exquisite. Here we have an entire global community showing the effect of a single event on the entire world. We, as Americans, still feel the pain of what happened that fateful day but we also need to know that there is an entire culture which is not American that exists outside of our world which we, as Americans, cannot expect to react, contribute or sympathize in the same way or in the way we would like them to. Here is an illustration of the relativity of the impact that a tragic event can have on everyone. Each eleven minute film here offers an idea of what and who we are. We see children thousands of miles away who have no concept of American culture. A segment dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli issue shows us that all depends on whose side you are on. There is a film that is just the cacophony of voices which express every emotion on that day while showing visions that defy the conventional understanding of what terror is. The final film is an allegory that man's need for righteous indignation and violence is a part of his nature. The films vary in content and style and quality especially in regard to terrorist acts in Chile and Palestine and the way that they allude to the American complicity in terrorist acts. There is also a great deal of irony shown here especially in the film from the United States which is directed by Sean Penn. A man is seen grieving in his New York apartment but his shadows of grief disappear when the World Trade Towers fall t the ground and bring him a short lived joy. Through his newly lighted space, he realizes that the wife he has been mourning is really gone now. In the movie from India we see a missing young Pakistani who was thought to be a terrorist turn out to be a hero who sacrificed his own life to save others in the burning WTC. One of the main themes of the films is that of poignancy and faith. From quoting St. Augustine through anger to the narrating of the tragedy to school children in Iran and their non-caring reaction, the film reminds us once again of that day we will never forget. We can rest assured that there will be plenty of films about 9/11 and this eleven film compilation is going to prove to be the best of them all, I feel. Of course I cannot say that all of the eleven are great films but taken as a whole "September 11, is impressive, interesting and fascinating. What I found amazing is shown beautifully in the selection by Amos Gitai of Israel. An Israeli journalist is trying to report on a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv but her story gets bumped because of what is happening in New York which shows just how powerful war and media are and how far we still have t go to find peace in the world. The film reveals the genius of the media in pitting nation against nation and in creating a sense of patriotism which is, indeed, false. War is not good for anyone. It is not surprising to learn from these films that world regard for America is neutral. We learn why this feeling exists through watching these eleven short films. There are really no bad guys and no good guys--there are only those who suffer. Sure some of the segments here are better than others but seeing the feelings of other countries is important and lets us understand the reality of today.
Hard to find but worth the search Originally titled 11'9"01, this film was retitled September 11th for the US DVD release. The original title is more appropriate since it also expressed the length of each piece. All the filmmakers were commissioned to produce a film that was exactly 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame long. Apparently this title is out of print, so you'll have to purchase a used version, but that is a small sacrifice for such an amazing film.
The 11 short films are from such excellent directors as Ken Loach(The Wind That Shakes the Barley),Youssef Chahine (Alexandria...Why?), Amos Gitai(Free Zone), Alejandro González Iñárritu(Babel), Shohei Imamura(Vengeance Is Mine - Criterion Collection), Claude Lelouch(Rendezvous), Danis Tanovic(No Man's Land), Samira Makhmalbaf(Blackboards), Mira Nair(Monsoon Wedding), Idrissa Ouedraogo(Tilai), and Sean Penn(The Assassination of Richard Nixon).
Surprisingly, Penn's entry from the US is the least of all these works, and also the least connected to the tragedy of September 11th. All the rest explore the events of the day from a variety of perspectives, including a surprisingly sympathetic view from Iran and a righteous polemic from Egypt. Some of the stories focus on the personal, such as Lelouch's sad and fascinating vingette about a deaf woman and her hearing lover. Others, such as Loach's history lesson on South American politics and the repercussions of American foreign policy, attempt to relate on a more global level. Iñárritu avoids his usual multiple storylines to simply juxtapose horrific images from the day with total silence and blackness, as if to say that it is impossible to convey the enormity and tragedy of it all.
Many of these directors were "undiscovered" in the US when this film was made. Several of them have either won or been nominated for Academy Awards in years since, and all of them turn in first rate work here(except Penn, but I've never cared for his directing anyway, so perhaps it is of a piece with his other work).
When I watched this for the first time recently, in spring 2007, I was struck with a profound sadness and anger. This film was released in September 2002, one year after the attacks. In the 5 years since, every shred of sympathy, compassion and understanding that is expressed in this film was squandered on a ill conceived war in Iraq. Even the most confrontational of these films, Chahine's scathing depiction of an argument between a dead US Marine and an Egyptian filmmaker, expresses compassion for our tragedy. Chahine suggests that the US look at our treatment of the Middle East and take this as a lesson, something to be mourned but also learned from. Even though the filmmaker character is angry with the US for its unilateral viewpoint, he still breaks down with emotion when confronted with the enormity of September 11th. Even though he feels the US needed a wake-up call, he cannot deny that the human cost is too high.
It would be interesting to get these filmmakers together again and make a 27'03"03, on the theme of the Iraq War.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
