11'09'01: September 11th 2001 (Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2002)
Runtime: 11 min 09 sec 01 frame
Synopsis:
To evoke the sheer scale of the shock wave which followed September 11,
To testify to the resonance of the event throughout the world,
To better convey the human dimension of this tragedy,
To bring reflection to emotion,
To give a voice to all,
A collective film
11 directors from different countries and cultures
11 visions of the tragic events which occurred in New York City on September 11, 2001
11 points of view engaging their individual conscience
Complete freedom of expression.
Samira Makhmalbaf
Born Teheran, 1980. The daughter of the film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. After attending her father’s private film school, in 1998 she was assistant director on LE SILENCE. Only eighteen years old, she was the youngest film director ever to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival with The Apple. At nineteen she directed her second film Blackboards. Shown in competition at Cannes Film Festival 2000, the film was awarded the Special Jury Prize. In 2000 she was one of the Jury members of the 57th Venice Film Festival.
Where were you on September 11 2001? What did you feel when you learnt about these events?
When I saw those two towers collapsing on TV, at first I didn’t believe it. I thought I was watching a film with special effects but immediately I found out that it was a true image. I started thinking about my friends in New York. I had lived there for a month and had a lot of friends there. A few hours later when I heard that America wanted to attack Afghanistan I started thinking about the children and women I had photographed a month before on the borders of Iran and Afghanistan. I had lived with them for about a month as well. I faced a double anxiety because I had friends in both America and Afghanistan.
How did the idea of your film come to you? Immediately or after long consideration?
After seeing the image of destruction of those two towers and when America bombed Afghanistan, I wanted to know if my friends in New York were okay and I wanted to go to Afghanistan to help the Afghan children no matter how insignificant my efforts there. I went to Afghanistan when America was bombing that country and I saw that the local cinemas that were banned for years had started working in a very rudimentary fashion. This made me very happy and I immediately thought about making a film.
Awards:
2003: Meilleur film de l'Union Européenne, nominated for César Best European Union Film
2003: National Board of Review, USA, winner Freedom of Expression Award, Year Result Award
2002: Venice Film Festival, winner of Year Result Award
| Credits:
Director/Scriptwriter: Samira Makhmalbaf |
Galatée Films |
