‘9/11: One Day in America’ Explores ‘Human Fragility & Human Resilience’

Ileane Rudolph August 29, 2021, 11:00 am

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9/11 One Day in America National Geographic — FEMA/Courtesy of National Geographic

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the moving docuseries 9/11: One Day in America, (seven hours over four consecutive nights) chronologically tracks the day’s events, from the first video of planes striking the World Trade Center towers shortly before 9am to the continuing search-and-rescue operations at midnight.

Award-winning filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin (LA 92, Undefeated) and their team sifted through nearly 1,000 hours of footage, much of it collected by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and interviewed 54 people captured on the tapes.

(Credit: National Geographic)

Rather than focus on “the geopolitical aspects of 9/11,” says Lindsay, “we want [viewers] to experience that day through the eyes of those who lived through it.”

Narrators include a Port Authority cop who was trapped deep in the towers’ debris and the former EMT with addiction problems who helped rescue him; a businessman at the WTC for a meeting who saved a stranger’s life while suffering a personal loss; and an FDNY battalion chief first on the scene, whose brother was one of hundreds of firefighters sent to evacuate people from the upper floors.

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While indescribably sad scenes unfold, there is also grace and heroism. As Martin explains, “This is an exploration of both human fragility and human resilience in the same space.”

9/11: One Day in America, Series Premiere, Sunday, August 29, 9/8c, National Geographic