While watching news reports tonight on President Obama’s visit to Ground Zero, I learned of an organization called ‘Project Rebirth.’ They’re filming a documentary, ‘Rebirth,’ scheduled for an August 2011 theatrical release and Sept. 11 premiere on Showtime. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.
I cannot wait to see this film, and I’m hoping it’s one of the films at the Traverse City Film Festival this summer. It’s already created some buzz at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The feature length documentary is from a team of filmmakers who’ve been working together since 9/11. The film is not only a living testament to honor the victims and heroes, but it’s also the most extensive use of time-lapse photography in history. Cameras at some 14 locations have chronicled the developments at Ground Zero for 24 hours a day since March 11, 2002.
Film crews have also been following the lives of nine people coping with 9/11, with three- to five-hour interviews on each anniversary of the event through 2009. The participants include:
- A survivor from an impact floor of the South Tower
- A NYPD officer who oversaw recovery efforts at the Fresh Kills landfill
- A firefighter who survived the collapse of the Towers, but lost his best friend and 343 fellow firefighters
- A high school student who lost his mother
- A young woman who lost her fiancé
- A construction worker who lost his brother, assisted with recovery efforts, and works building the Freedom Tower today
- A Muslim American woman who became an advocate for religious tolerance following 9/11
- A volunteer in the recovery effort who later trained as a Red Cross volunteer and assisted Katrina survivors in Gulfport, Mississippi
- A man who lost his domestic partner of 14 years and moved to California
I’m sure there are many documentaries and film projects following the tragedy, and there are so many ways filmmakers can go with it, from the psychological aspects of healing to the logistics of rebuilding structures there.
Below is a little feature with Tom Lappin, director of photography for ‘Project Rebirth,’ talking about the process of keeping 14 time-lapse 35-mm cameras running 24 hours a day at Ground Zero year after year. I see an Oscar nomination in this film’s future.
Any thoughts on ‘Project Rebirth’ or the documentary? I’m wondering if the film will also include the recent death of Osama bin Laden and how that’s affected the participants. Learn more about the organization and film at the ‘Project Rebirth’ official site; Twitter; Facebook; YouTube.
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