On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, HBO has produced a documentary on the incident. The incident is just not a bad memory but was a history for all, right from the students to the elders. This documentary will be made for the students to make it easy for them to understand what exactly happened.
The filmmaker, Amy Schatz, was struck with this idea of her new project, “What Happened on September 11,” after she saw a third-grade kid along with her friend googling about the attacks. Schatz wanted to make the kids know about the attacks without exposing them to horrific images as can be found on the internet which is not appropriate for them.
She said that it felt like a responsibility of hers to fill this void with something that can help kids understand the incident but in a sober manner and without threatening images.
The half an hour documentary debuted on Wednesday at 6 p.m.There is a companion piece that focuses on the memories of former students at a high school near Ground Zero, which was premiered three hours later.
For this documentary, she has worked with the September 11 museum and filming two men who give the presentation to third graders in the topic. Matthew Crawford whose fire died in the incident as a fire extinguisher has shared his experience. Stephen Kern who had worked on the 62nd floor of the World Trade Centre’s North tower talks on how he had been evacuated.
Not only this, short history pieces of New York and World Trade Centre, whose construction began in 1968, are fragmented throughout the movie.
The film also talks about Osama Bin Laden and his activism which initiated after the Soviet Union’s invasion in Afghanistan.
Schatz said, “You can’t protect kids from what they’re going to come across.” She felt that this was an opportunity where she can put something in an age-appropriate manner.