11’09″01 September 11 Discussion

110901-September-11

Assignment

Choose two of the eleven short films of the anthology 11″09’01 to compare and contrast.   Provide a short biography of each of the directors, then compare and contrast how the films depicted  time, place, and perspective.

Post your compare/contrast thoughts to the discussion in the comments below this post, and be sure to comment on your peer’s work while you’re there!

One Response to “11’09″01 September 11 Discussion”

  1. Austyn Hewitt says:

    My thoughts for the assignment is that I was surprised on other peoples reactions to 9-11. A lot of people weren’t even in America and still were affected. I copied my assignment that goes more in depth on my opinion.

    11’09”01 expression 1 was directed by Samira Makhmalbaf. Samira Makhmalbaf is a female Iranian scriptwriter and filmmaker. She might have gotten interested in film because her father Mohen Makhmalbaf is also a writer/film director. Makhmalbaf graduated from University of Roehampton and has directed many films. The 11’09”01 that she directs takes place in Iran but the people in the film are supposed to be Afghan refugees. In relation to when the twin towers were hit this film happen within a day of the incident. The main perspective that is shown is the children and the teacher. The teacher thinks the twin towers getting hit is a big deal because she knows a war is going to happen. The children do not care about the incident at all but they are more concerned with who fell into the well nearby. The children are not heartless about the incident they are just small children and do not take interest in world events.
    11’09”01 expression 3 was directed by Youssef Chahine. Youssef Chahine is an Egyptian film director whom has directed countless film in the fifty-eight years that he was in the film business. He was born January 25, 1926 and died July 27 2008. Chahine directed expression 3, which involved two different scenes. First, was a mute woman in an apartment who was writing a break up letter to her boyfriend. She did not know that anything was happening even though it was on the TV in her apartment, the severity of the incident did not occur to her until her boyfriend came home upset about it. Second, a film director who was filming something involving the twin tower just before the towers were hit and after he could no longer do his filming. He was torn about the incident even though he was not in New York and is trying to deal with his emotions by making an imaginary soldier in his head that he can talk to.
    Both films compare in that it shows 9-11 not just people in New York or in America affected everyone. Everyone around the world was waiting to see what was going to happen next and they knew thousands of people died. The films do show that not everyone cared as much as others, like the children, but everyone knew about the incident relatively quickly. The films contrasts in relation to the physical places that they took place and who was affected. The first film shows the perspective of the children and the second film shows the perspective of older people. Even with both films being different they were both good with showing the impact of 9-11.

    -Austyn Hewitt

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