Issues Surrounding the Towers’ Construction and Destruction Examined 

New York, August 25, 2003 -- The Donnell Media Center observes the second anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center with a special film/video series.  The screened films provide perspectives on the issues raised by the Twin Towers’ construction and its destruction. All programs held in the Donnell Library Center auditorium, located at 20 West 53rd Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues). Admission is free.

Thursday, September 11, at 6:00 p.m.
Donnell Media Center welcomes retired New York City firefighter and independent filmmaker Mike Lennon, who will screen and discuss his documentary “Brothers...On Holy Ground,” 2002 (video, 54 minutes). Shortly after noon on September 11, 2001, Mr. Lennon arrived at the site of the World Trade Center. After two harrowing weeks spent digging for survivors, he took up his camera and began filming. This intimate portrait of his fellow firefighters and their survivors in the weeks following the terrorist attacks reveals both the agony and the indomitable pride that lie behind the doors of each city firehouse. The documentary features narration by veteran New York journalist Pete Hamill and  music from Van Morrison and the Chieftains.

Thursday, September 18, at 6:00 p.m.  
Two filmmakers respond, 30 years apart, to the societal and political forces that have swirled around the site of the World Trade Center.  In the first film, Don Lenzer's “A Wonderful Construction,” 1973 (16mm film, 15 minutes), the construction workers involved in building the World Trade Center are engaged as they demonstrate in support of American military action in Vietnam.  The second work, Norman Cowie’s “Scenes From an Endless War,” 2003 (video, 32 minutes), observes the "war against terrorism" that is being conducted in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center.  Both filmmakers will be present for a discussion following the screenings of their works.

Throughout September 2003, Donnell Media Center will also celebrate New York City, as it has been perceived and captured in the works of a spectrum of film/video artists.  These will be featured in the Tape-of-the Day program, which is presented in continuous viewings in the Media Center.

Through September 20
September 11 Photo Project
The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library, on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, commemorates Sepetmber 11 with a display of photographs and personal statements submitted to the September 11 Photo Project. The Project was initiated in a SoHo gallery as a community-based response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the downing of United Airlines flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Following the close of the New York exhibition, the Project traveled to Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Pasadena, Chicago, Detroit, and Atlanta. Additional photographs were collected in each city from anyone wishing to participate.

Included in the Library’s exhibition are images of the events of September 11, 2001, in New York and the two other disaster sites, as well as photographs from California and other states, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The photographs range from amateur snapshots to finely printed larger-format photographs and digitally manipulated works. The September 11 Photo Project will be on view through September 20, 2003. Admission is free.

th: pro