Today, as part of The University's September 11 memorial, the Leadership and Involvement office will be showing the 9/11 documentary "Rebirth" in the University Center Theatre at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
"Rebirth" focuses on five people and how September 11 affected them: Ling, a mother who was severely burned in the attack; Nick, a teenager who lost his mother; Tim, a firefighter who lost his best friend and mentor; Tanya, a woman who lost her fiancé; and Brian, a construction worker who lost his brother.
"We looked at a couple of documentaries, but we decided on this one because it talks about the healing, not the political parts," said Laura Hoffman, assistant coordinator of student activities. "The point of the documentary is not to re-open wounds, but help move forward. It's less of a call to action, and more of a look at the healing process."
The documentary follows five people interviewed over nine years, showing how their attitudes and reactions changed over time. This is interspersed with time-lapsed footage of the cleanup and reconstruction at Ground Zero.
Every year, the five are interviewed about how they are coping with their loss. The people portrayed in the movie are each in different situations, showing the many different ways that 9/11 affected them.
According to Hoffman, the committee in charge of the September 11 memorial events decided to play a documentary after looking at what other schools were doing to commemorate the 10 year anniversary.
"Showing a documentary was one additional component could do, and we wanted to have a couple of different ways for people to commemorate 9/11," Hoffman said. "A couple of other schools were showing this one and we thought it was important to show a documentary and not a blockbuster film, due to the seriousness of the issue and this one just seems to really bring a way to move forward."
