|
One's name is Jules; he's 28
years old. The other is Gédéon; he's 31. Two names
that could be those of the Lumière brothers... They are
the two sons of Français Jean-Jacques Naudet, the ex-journalist
for "Paris Match" who launched the American version
of the magazine "Photo". Eighteen months ago Jules
and Gédéon, having decided to direct documentaries
together, called the New York City Fire Department in order to
film something about them. They were given total access, something
that had not happened since 1970. They chose to follow a new
21-year-old firefighter, Tony Benetatos. At the time, the summer
of 2001 had been quiet, too quiet. They started the investigation
on their subject without knowing what was in store, without knowing
the significance their work would take on.
The morning of September 11,
Jules was in the barracks of the fire fighters who would be first
to arrive on the scene. He was allowed to enter the first tower
hit. Gédéon remained stuck outside, having arrived
later with a less rapid unit. Jules was able to film the horror
for two hours without stopping. He was only interrupted when
he had to change his tape. He saw two people who were burning
alive and a priest dying of a heart attack just after having
administered last rites on a firefighter. "It was a nuclear
winter," he said a little later.
Outside, his brother Gédéon,
who was filming the drama from afar, believed him to be dead,
inevitably. When they were reunited it seemed miraculous. They
then continued to film at Ground Zero for the next three weeks,
and at Statten Island, where the rubble was progressively transported
(180 hours of images in total). Their two-hour film, entitled
"9/11", was broadcast tonight in the United States
on the channel CBS, who co-produced the show that reached an
audience of 50 million viewers.
Last week this broadcast was
the subject of a debate in the heart of American opinion. Is
it necessary to reopen the immense wound in showing these morbid
images of apocalypse? Some responded: "It's too soon."
Others thought: "It will help us to mourn." In any
case, CBS is not the type of channel to change its programming
just to accomodate its more sensitive viewers.
Original article by Maurice
Achard
Translated by David Sadegh
|