Channel 4 marks 10-year anniversary of 9/11

14 July 2011

Channel 4 today announced a season of documentaries to commemorate 10 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which will offer a unique and poignant perspective into the events that changed the world: 9/11: ER, 9/11: The Fireman's Story, The Children of 9/11, Inside the Mosque at Ground Zero, and Targeting Bin Laden.

Hamish Mykura, Head of Documentaries, who commissioned two documentaries from Testimony Films and a single from Nutopia, said: "In 9/11: The Tenth Anniversary, two documentaries tell the stories of those caught up in the events of 9/11. In 9/11:ER, we see how timely intervention saved the lives of hundreds of walking wounded. 9/11:The Fireman's Story explores the reality of what the fire-fighters achieved on 9/11 and the impact that had on their lives. Targeting Bin Laden is an ambitious drama-documentary, setting out a range of perspectives to tell the dramatic story of the operation to kill Bin Laden."

Ralph Lee, Head of Specialist Factual, who commissioned the documentary from CTVC, says: "The story of the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero is an extraordinary prism through which we can view the ways that America has and hasn't been able to accommodate Islam post 9/11.  With Children of 9/11, the passage of time since the attack on the Twin Towers is put in stark relief, as we see the events through the eyes of a generation for whom it defined their personal lives and the wider world in which they have grown up."

The season of programmes is due to air on Channel 4 ahead of and around 11 September 2011.

 

 

9/11: The Tenth Anniversary - Testimony Films

9/11: ER (1x60) tells of the emergency treatment of the injured that took place in and around the World Trade Centre as the jets crashed and the towers fell on the morning of 9/11. Thousands of evacuating office workers and emergency responders were burned, crushed, impaled, lacerated, blinded and traumatised. Many had life-threatening injuries. 9/11: ER reveals how their lives were saved by the timely intervention of trained medical personnel and completely untrained strangers. It focuses on the heroic efforts of the paramedics all over the WTC site, the makeshift field hospital set up on the New Jersey pier on the banks of the River Hudson and the Downtown Hospital in Lower Manhattan.

Producer/Director:  Steve Humphries

Commissioning Editor: Hamish Mykura

 

 

9/11: The Fireman's Story (1x60), Channel 4 explores the dramatic stories of individual firemen on that fateful day. The stories of those who died, those who survived and those who still bear the scars. Of the 2,752 people who died on 9/11, 343 were FDNY firemen - by far the greatest loss of life by any emergency service in the world in a single day. Only now, ten years on, are many of the firemen and their families able to speak about this for the first time. Their courage and sacrifice made them national heroes but in the 10 years since many have paid a terrible price for their bravery. But why is it that so many firemen died that day? And how many people did they actually save?  And how did the FDNY's extraordinary history, play such as decisive role in that day? This programme reveals, in their own words, the reality of what the fire fighters achieved that day and the price they have paid ever since.

Producer/Director: Joseph Maxwell  

Exec producer: Steve Humphries  

Commissioning Editor: Hamish Mykura

 

 

Children of 9/11 (working title) - Darlow Smithson. 

On September 11th, almost 3,000 children under the age of 18 lost a parent. Of those, some were not yet born - they were still in the womb when the towers collapsed.

Ten years on, Children OF 9/11 (working title) (1 x 90) gives a voice, for the first time, to the young people directly affected by 9/11: the children who lost a parent on that fateful day and those who were born afterwards - their lives linked by a terrible accident of fate that has made their childhoods part of the most significant and terrifying event of modern times.

Over the course of a year, Children of 9/11 has followed eleven children from six families across America. We'll hear from some who are only just beginning to comprehend what they lost on that day, whilst others, remarkably, are now able to find a way to positively transform their lives. Their honest recollections of this confusing and catastrophic day, as well as their difficult and inspiring journeys in the years since, offer incredible new insight into the far reaching consequences of September 11th.

The film accompanies the children as they go about their daily lives, interweaving powerful interviews with home movie footage of their families to create a unique and intimate portrait before and after the tragedy. The children of 9/11 - whether they were in the womb or on the brink of adulthood - all reveal heart-warming truths about how children cope with loss; families overcome grief; and the astonishing strength and resilience of children that can even help their parents come to terms with tragedy.

Exec Producers: Julian Ware and Tom Brisley

Producer: Nacressa Swan

Director: Janice Sutherland

Commissioning editor: Tanya Shaw

 

 

Targeting Bin Laden (working title) - Nutopia Limited

Targeting Bin Laden (working title) (1x90), is an ambitious drama-documentary telling the nail-biting and complex story of the operation to hunt and kill Osama Bin Laden.

Blending archive news footage, military imagery and interviews with powerful drama, the film features the first detailed interviews with politicians, spies, generals, special force operatives, al Qaeda experts and other key insiders to unravel the dramatic event from a range of perspectives.

The film sets out to maintain its close attention to the memorable details surrounding the operation, culminating in a large scale reconstruction of the raid itself and recreating the iconic ‘situation room' photograph of Obama's team viewing the raid.

Exec producers: Phil Craig/Jane Root

Director: Bruce Goodison

Commissioning editor: Hamish Mykura

 

 

Inside the Mosque at Ground Zero - CTVC

Inside the Mosque at Ground Zero (1x60), from Bafta award-winning director Dan Reed, explores why the proposed building of a mosque at Ground Zero (Park 51) continues to be one of the explosive issues in American politics today with repercussions felt around the world. A proposed mosque within an Islamic community centre in lower Manhattan has thrown into sharp focus the tensions at the core of American democracy.

With unique access to major players in the project and the unfolding events, Inside The Mosque at Ground Zero recounts the press frenzy surrounding the plans, the vitriolic attacks on its high profile spiritual leader, Imam Feisal, and reveals the hidden driving force behind the mosque. The film also follows property developer Sharif El-Gamal as he garners support for his controversial building, and explores the issues surrounding its development and the high profile massed opposition to it. The film looks at the fury of the critics who continue to block plans to build what they believe is a jihadist plot linked to this ‘house of evil', particularly the family members of those who died at 9/11.

Travelling beyond the confines of Manhattan, the programme explores how the Ground Zero mosque controversy plays out in America, especially within the larger Muslim community where some are opposed to the proposed building.

 

Ten years on from the events that shaped a nation, this is the story of a country struggling to understand its own psyche.

Exec. producer: Ray Bruce

Producer/Director: Dan Reed

Commissioning editor: Ralph Lee