America Talks 25

“9/11: OUR STORY” is about the making of a remarkable film, “America Talks,” and how a group of inexperienced college students and their professor created an important visual and oral history of the days after 9/11. The film follows the professor’s challenge to go out into the world and find anyone willing to talk to them about their reactions and what they think the future holds. Unsure at first, but soon finding their legs, they got earfuls of hate, revenge, uncertainty, shock and disbelief. Even tales of death. Within days they were filming in a neighborhood overlooking the Pentagon, at the crash site of Flight 93, and in the crowds gaping at the destruction of Ground Zero. While working day and night for three months on their film, they quickly took on the demeanor of journalists, leaving their shyness and inexperience behind. They struggled, but now feeling empowered they came together and figured out how to tell the story of 9/11 through their own eyes. They learned to ask more relevant questions: Why did this happen? Why were we caught so off guard? How should we respond? Are we going to war? Are you willing to die for your country?
These young women and men, now in the prime of their lives, reunite on campus. The bonds they created then were strong enough to bring them back. Nearly 25 years later, questions echo with renewed urgency. In a world still shaped by uncertainty, polarization, and rising threats, the film asks: Could it happen again? By holding a mirror to the past, through the eyes of those who lived and recorded it, we confront not only what we remember - but what we’ve chosen to forget.