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"Eleven acclaimed filmmakers, from eleven different countries and cultures, were invited to make short films of 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame in length, reflecting their personal responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001. No restrictions were imposed on content or approach."

Of "September 11," an unusual collection of international directors viewing 9/11 from their distinct and varied prisms, Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Sometimes the world of cinema, like the world at large, gives us something extraordinary that is also a painful reminder of lost opportunities. One such example is 'September 11,' an often brilliant, always revelatory, deeply interesting omnibus film. In it, 11 major world filmmakers create cinematic vignettes: portraits of their reactions after the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center massacre."

Wilmington, the Chicago Tribune film critic, continues: "Those filmmakers -- including Japan's Shohei Imamura, France's Claude Lelouch, Israel's Amos Gitai, Iran's Samira Makhmalbaf, Bosnia's Danis Tanovic ("No Man's Land") and Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Amores Perros") -- were given complete artistic control and only one major parameter. Each segment had to be exactly 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame long, to coincide poetically with the European style for the date 11-09-01.

"The result is mesmerizing. Co-produced by Jacques Perrin (who made both "Microcosmos" and this year's brilliant documentary sleeper "Winged Migration"), the film keeps shifting from country to country, viewpoint to viewpoint. Some of the 11 shorts are brilliant, but even the flawed ones are provocative and revealing. And in general, the vignettes' perspectives -- even among directors who are deeply critical of U.S. foreign policy -- are humanistic and anti-war, full of anger at the massacre and empathy for its victims."

The film was compiled back in 2003, but was a box office dud in the U.S. because the mainstream media generally dumped on it as being Anti-American. The Bush 9/11 terrorize America bandwagon was rolling along full steam ahead and we were apparently not willing to take in the viewpoints of film directors from other nations.

Given that 11 directors each offer an equally timed sequence, viewers will find some of the pieces more interesting than others. But we found the compilation artistically compelling -- and a gateway into how 9/11 is seen through the eyes of the world.

But these are not political diatribes. Remember that these are film directors who are interested in telling stories or experimenting with stylistic techniques.

The DVD is just being re-released this August by First Run Features, who hopes to revive interest in this international perspective on 9/11, told through "little stories."

The directors whose works appear in "September 11" are:

Youssef Chahine ("Egypt")
Amos Gitai ("Israel")
Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Mexico")
Shohei Imamura ("Japan")
Claude Lelouch ("France")
Ken Loach ("United Kingdom")
Samira Makhmalbaf ("Iran)
Mira Nair ("India")
Idrissa Ouedraogo ("Burkina Faso")
Sean Penn ("USA")
Danis Tanovic ("Bosnia-Herzegovina")

And remember the pattern here: 11 directors shooting sequences of 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame in length each.

Much food for thought in this overlooked collection.



BUZZFLASH REVIEWS