Aug. 10, 2006
Wary of FCC rules, CBS sets updated '9/11'
By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK -- CBS will air an updated version of the "9/11" documentary about the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the firefighters who responded that September day five years ago.
The Emmy- and Peabody-winning documentary, produced by brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet and retired firefighter James Hanlon, will air Sept. 10.
Airing the documentary represents something of an act of courage by CBS, given the gritty language that "9/11" contained in its two previous airings and the chill that is going through the airwaves over federal efforts to curb broadcast indecency. CBS has made no cuts to the language for this telecast. CBS sources said the documentary, which is the true-life portrait of what happened that day, is bound to generate controversy in some quarters.
"It's important to take note of the event as it happened," CBS executive producer Susan Zirinsky said. "And (the filmmakers) have done an amazing job in staying with these guys over five years and evolving with them. You will feel at the end that we've taken a journey again."
The French filmmakers had planned to make a documentary about a year in the life of a rookie firefighter. It became a gripping record of one of the most important days in U.S. history as Jules Naudet went out on a call with the firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001, and filmed American Airlines Flight 11 slamming into the North Tower. What transpired was a transfixing portrait of the firefighters dealing with the crisis that became more dire by the minute. The updated version, which has been in the works for a year, will include interviews with 20 of the firefighters from the downtown Manhattan firehouse where the Naudets had been filming for months. Robert De Niro, who narrated the film, will tape new portions next week. More than 39 million people watched the documentary during its first airing in March 2002.
The stakes are higher for CBS this time around. With potential indecency fines increasing from $32,500 per utterance per outlet to $325,000 each, the multitude of expletives heard in "9/11" could quickly run CBS and its affiliates into serious money. CBS has been the most aggressive of the networks in this regard and has paid the price with fines ranging from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show to a "Without a Trace" repeat last year. But the network isn't standing on such principles now: Sources said the network briefly discussed potential FCC issues before deciding that "9/11" wasn't indecent and also that it was too important to "sanitize" by toning down the language.
But CBS is taking steps to make sure that no one is caught by surprise, including informing affiliates of its plans to air the broadcast and, like the previous two telecasts, including strong warnings in the promos before the broadcast and at various points during the two-hour telecast.
"It's so important to the story to let the reality exist," Zirinsky said. "We did that for the previous times it has aired -- we put an advisory out, and we have De Niro responding to it. But it's important to take in the reality in what is the most horrific terrorist attack in our country's history. ... The men had never been tested like that. It was important to allow this to be what it was, for all its sensibilities."
There have been and are no graphic images in the film, save for firefighters carrying out the body of FDNY chaplain Mychal Judge. Jules Naudet said he censored himself on the spot, not filming the horrible images he had seen from the moment he walked into the lobby of the North Tower.
"I was just protecting myself, in a way," he said. "I remember the first time I was confronted with that -- there were three people burning alive, I got a glimpse of it, and unfortunately these images are seared into your brain. I was thinking (then) that nobody should see that."
The update keeps much of the core of the original documentary, particularly the harrowing journey with the firefighters as they battle to save lives and fight the fires high above them and then fight to save their own. Three hundred forty-three firefighters, including several the film, were among the 2,700 people who were killed in the Manhattan attacks.
"We've been in constant contact with the men (of the firehouse) after making this documentary," Hanlon said. "We were really a part of that family; we've stayed in touch with everyone. And a year ago, we realized that a lot of the guys had never spoken about it after that day and would really only talk about it in a closed circle of firefighters."
The filmmakers also have seen the firefighters at several department functions annually throughout the years, Jules Naudet said. He was married at the firehouse about a year after the attacks.
Several of the firefighters have transferred, and others have retired. At least two, though, are still on the job: Joseph Pfeiffer, the battalion chief who lost his brother, Kevin, at the World Trade Center, is now FDNY's chief of counterterrorism and preparedness. Rookie firefighter Tony Benetatos is now on the haz-mat squad.
While some of the interviews were done at the Engine 7/Ladder 1 firehouse, others were done at the Naudets parents' house on 73rd Street in Manhattan. Hanlon said that many were initially apprehensive about talking, and they always had a lunch first without cameras, then caught up with many moments of silence before the interviews begin. At the core, the filmmakers say, it's a story not just about heroes but ordinary men who went through extraordinary times.
Gedeon Naudet worked on an international version of the update, which will run in 112 countries as a separate half-hour show after the original "9/11" documentary runs. The Naudets have other projects they're working on, as does Hanlon. And "9/11" hasn't run its course either. Evoking Michael Apted's landmark documentary series that began in 1964 with "7 Up," Hanlon and the Naudets plan to keep checking in with the firefighters. Some of the ones who declined to talk to them this time around have promised to sit down in front of the camera at the 10-year anniversary.
"We've bonded with those men, and we will be forever," Hanlon said. "To revisit them every five years is something that we have discussed. I think the American people want to know what happened to these men."