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American September Director - Ben CrewMy name is Ben Crew, I'm a 26 year old historian and filmmaker from Mississippi. Documenting 9/11 history began for me in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. At just the age of 10, half of my hometown was destroyed by the storm and I evacuated with my family to Michigan to stay with my grandparents. With no school or friends in the area, I watched TV for all of early September and saw for the first time remembrance specials with graphic images of the September 11th attacks that had happened four years prior. I was struck by this tragic moment in time where everything changed in an instant for our country, just as it had again for me and my neighbors in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I became dedicated at an early age to documenting history and ensuring that the voices of the past help guide us through the future. September 11th is a day we cannot forget if we are to understand everything we lost that day and the world that formed in it's wake. American September is my testament to remembering that day.
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THE GOAL OF AMERICAN SEPTEMBER
American September is a documentary film project and educational archive presenting September 11th stories from all fifty states and Washington D.C. All interviews will be available on their respective state's webpage in addition to a collection of written memories.
If you have a story you feel is worth telling, I want to hear it.
Millions of Americans have stories to share and I will be honored to archive them here through American September.
If you have a story you feel is worth telling, I want to hear it.
Millions of Americans have stories to share and I will be honored to archive them here through American September.
The Documentary Film
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The resources collected by American September will eventually be used to create a feature length documentary telling the wider story of that tragic day. Selected stories will be recreated with actors and edited to appear as if they were filmed using a camcorder from 2001.
This editing process was put to test in the short film - 9/11 A.M. |
HOW AMERICAN SEPTEMBER STARTED
My interest in 9/11 history actually started in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came to my coastal town Long Beach, Mississippi. My family and I left before the storm hit, Mom told me to take a good look at all of the old houses along the beach highway because they wouldn’t be here when I got back.
My interest in 9/11 history actually started in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came to my coastal town Long Beach, Mississippi. My family and I left before the storm hit, Mom told me to take a good look at all of the old houses along the beach highway because they wouldn’t be here when I got back.
When it became clear just how bad the damage was, my family made a road trip out of our exodus. Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama then to Raleigh, North Carolina then to Washington D.C. and finally Sylvan Lake, Michigan where my grandparents lived. I got to see a lot of the country.
When we were in Raleigh with my Aunt and Uncle, news footage of Katrina was playing. No one wanted to watch it so we changed unknowingly to a channel playing footage of the 9/11 attacks - it was early September so a lot of channels were airing remembrance specials. I was six when 9/11 happened so while I remember the attacks and their aftermath, this was the first time I had seen the footage. In D.C. we stopped at the Smithsonian and saw a beam of the World Trade Center on display. I looked at the picture of the old buildings behind it more than the beam itself.
When I finally got to Michigan, I had no school to go to or friends to keep me occupied. Like most kids with nothing to do, I returned to the television - one of those old black box CRTs my grandparents had in the basement atop a shelf of Mickey Mouse VHS tapes. But I wasn’t down there to watch the tapes. It was still September and the footage was always on. It was realer to me then than it was before. I watched a lot of footage in that time away from home.
When I did return home, I saw Mississippi differently too. Everything beachfront was gone or gutted, almost nothing south of the railroad tracks was untouched by water, and barbed wire lining those tracks cut me off from half of my own town. Our house was fine, just a few trees down and a blue FEMA tarp over the roof. When it became safe enough to visit the waterfront, I went with my father and brother to visit what used to be our church. The whole building was picked up and carried off north, only a concrete slab remained.
As I stood in the spot, I asked my father, “When I’m older and leave Mississippi will people understand when I tell them about this?” And he said, “No.”
I realized why I spent all those lazy days in Michigan watching that footage. I wanted to understand.
That’s why I’ve made American September. All of America has a story to tell about a moment we shared, when our humanity was tested and the course of our future changed forever.
There was a moment when all of America was under the same clear, blue sky.
When we were in Raleigh with my Aunt and Uncle, news footage of Katrina was playing. No one wanted to watch it so we changed unknowingly to a channel playing footage of the 9/11 attacks - it was early September so a lot of channels were airing remembrance specials. I was six when 9/11 happened so while I remember the attacks and their aftermath, this was the first time I had seen the footage. In D.C. we stopped at the Smithsonian and saw a beam of the World Trade Center on display. I looked at the picture of the old buildings behind it more than the beam itself.
When I finally got to Michigan, I had no school to go to or friends to keep me occupied. Like most kids with nothing to do, I returned to the television - one of those old black box CRTs my grandparents had in the basement atop a shelf of Mickey Mouse VHS tapes. But I wasn’t down there to watch the tapes. It was still September and the footage was always on. It was realer to me then than it was before. I watched a lot of footage in that time away from home.
When I did return home, I saw Mississippi differently too. Everything beachfront was gone or gutted, almost nothing south of the railroad tracks was untouched by water, and barbed wire lining those tracks cut me off from half of my own town. Our house was fine, just a few trees down and a blue FEMA tarp over the roof. When it became safe enough to visit the waterfront, I went with my father and brother to visit what used to be our church. The whole building was picked up and carried off north, only a concrete slab remained.
As I stood in the spot, I asked my father, “When I’m older and leave Mississippi will people understand when I tell them about this?” And he said, “No.”
I realized why I spent all those lazy days in Michigan watching that footage. I wanted to understand.
That’s why I’ve made American September. All of America has a story to tell about a moment we shared, when our humanity was tested and the course of our future changed forever.
There was a moment when all of America was under the same clear, blue sky.
