11’09"01 - September 11

Synopsis

11 directors from different countries and cultures were invited by French producer Alain Brigand to each make a short film relating to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. The only artistic restriction was that each individual film must last for precisely 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame. The resulting collaboration offers some diverse geographical, cultural and artistic perspectives on the events of that day. But it benefits from prior knowledge, on the part of the viewer, about the previous work of the various contributors. One of the connecting threads, throughout this portmanteau, is how television enabled the whole world to experience the horrors of that fateful morning.

Language

English

Year of release

2003

Year of production

2002

Notes

Hire on DVD from BFI Collections, sale from other distributors

Subjects

Media studies

Keywords

New York; short films; terrorism; Washington

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£19.99

Availability

Hire Sale

Duration/Size

135 minutes

Year

2003

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£15.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

135 minutes

Sections

Title

Samira Makhmalbaf

Synopsis

Samira Makhmalbaf presents a female teacher, at an Afghani refugee camp in Iran, organising the children for a minute’s silence. Meanwhile the adults express fears of an American bombardment.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Claude Lelouche

Synopsis

In the episode by Claude Lelouch, individuals are so preoccupied with their own personal problems that they remain oblivious to the television footage of the collapsing towers.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Youssef Chahine

Synopsis

Egyptian Youssef Chahine’s film is about a filmmaker who lectures the ghost of a young Marine killed in the Beirut terrorist attacks years earlier. This episode has received some criticism for being "anti-American".

Duration

11 mins

Title

Danis Tanovic

Synopsis

Danis Tanovic shows the women of Srebrenica (a town where Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred in their thousands by Serbs on July 11 1995) continuing their monthly protests, despite the loss of life in America.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Idrissa Ouedraogo

Synopsis

Idrissa Ouedraogo shows a young boy in Burkina Faso on the trail of an Osama Bin Laden lookalike, hoping for the reward of $25 million.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Ken Loach

Synopsis

In Ken Loach’s segment a Chilean refugee offers his condolences to the American victims. He then, in an open letter, remembers an earlier September 11 when a CIA-sponsored coup d’état installed the dictatorship of General Pinochet.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Synopsis

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s effort is the most abstract. It incorporates flashes of images of bodies falling from the World Trade Centre, accompanied by religious chanting.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Amos Gitai

Synopsis

Israili Amos Gittai’s contribution is the story of a journalist at the scene of an outrage.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Mira Nair

Synopsis

Indian filmmaker Mira Nair’s short film is a retelling of real events in the life of the Hamdani family in Queens, whose eldest son was missing after September 11, and was then accused by the media of being a terrorist.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Sean Penn

Synopsis

In the episode by Sean Penn, individuals are so preoccupied with their own personal problems that they remain oblivious to the television footage of the collapsing towers.

Duration

11 mins

Title

Shohei Imamura

Synopsis

Shohei Imamura contributes a story set in 1945 Japan where a man believes he’s a snake. The veteran director concludes with the statement: "There is no such thing as a holy war."

Duration

11 mins

Distributor

Name

Artificial Eye Film Company

Email

info@artificial-eye.com

Web

http://www.artificial-eye.com External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7240 5353

Fax

020 7240 5242

Address

14 King Street
London
WC2E 8HR

Name

BFI Film Bookings Unit

Email

bookings.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/help-faq/film-bookings External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7957 8938 / 8935

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Name

Moviemail

Web

https://www.simplyhe.com/3000-moviemail External site opens in new window

Phone

0844 848 2000

Address

Simply Home Entertainment
PO Box 7741
Ringwood
BH24 9FA
UK

Notes

As of December 2016 the Moviemail web presence is incorporated within the Simply Media website