September 11
(DVD Video)

Dolby stereo 2.0 and Dolby surround 5.1. ; Widescreen (16:9) presentation.

Based on an original idea by Alain Brigand.

Special features: director profiles, trailers.

Directors, Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran), Claude Lelouch (France), Yusuf Shahin (Egypt), Danis Tanovic (Bosnia-Herzogovina), Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Ken Loach (U.K.), Alejandro Gonzalez I~narritu (Mexico), Amos Gitai (Israel), Mira Nair (India), Sean Penn (U.S.), Shohei Imamura (Japan).

Eleven filmmakers from eleven countries reflect on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in short films each lasting 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame. Samira Makhmalbaf presents a female teacher, at an Afghani refugee camp in Iran, organizing the children for a minute's silence; meanwhile the adults express fears of an American bombardment. Claude Lelouch presents the tale of a World Trade Center tour guide who is on the verge of a breakup with his deaf girlfriend when the terrorist attacks occur. Yusuf Shahin presents a young American soldier who comes to haunt a famous film producer and they engage in a highly conflicted dialogue. Danis Tanovic presents the women of Srebrenica (a town where thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred Serbs on July 11, 1995) continuing their monthly protests, despite the September 11th terrorist attacks. Idrissa Ouedraogo presents a young boy in Burkina Faso on the trail of a man he believes to be Osama Bin Laden. Ken Loach's presents a Chilean refugee who offers his condolences to the American victims; he then, in an open letter, describes the CIA-sponsored coup d'tat of September 11, 1973, which installed the dictatorship of General Pinochet. Alejandro Gonzlez I~narritu presents flashes of images of bodies falling from the World Trade Center, accompanied by chanting. Amos Gitai presents a preening television news journalist enraged that her report about a Palestinian bombing in Tel Aviv will not be broadcast because of late breaking news about the attacks. Mira Nair presents a New York Muslim suspected of being a terrorist, but who is actually a heroic rescue worker. Sean Penn presents a lonley widower who lives in an apartment that is shaded by the World Trade Center. Shohei Imamura presents a Japanese soldier who returns home from fighting in World War II. He is convinced that he is a snake, and he refuses to eat anything other than live rats.

Not rated.

DVD.

In English, French, Japanese, Arabic, Bosnian, Hebrew, and Farsi with optional English or French subtitles.