9/12: From Chaos to Community

2006· 57 min·

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers from all walks of life felt compelled to overcome their sense of powerlessness by volunteering to help out in the recovery effort. They brought in supplies, set up relief stations, and for ten months fed and cared for the recovery workers. Many deep and unexpected - even unlikely - relationships developed out of this. Using cinema verite footage, interviews and archival photographs, we follow several characters through a series of events reuniting them with each other after the closing of the site. Through their stories we present a portrait of the city within a city that was Ground Zero, and examine how an extremely diverse group of people transcended politics and culture in an effort to heal their city and themselves. 9/12: From Chaos to Community - a 60-minute character-driven documentary - is a vibrant, moving, sometimes funny, sometimes painful portrayal of hope and healing in the wake of disaster.

Director: Susanna Styron