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PS22's award winning-docudrama, "THE CONFERENCE," was filmed in 2002, the same school-year as the September 11th attacks. In 2007, it was featured as part of an exhibit in the World Trade Center museum, TRIBUTE WTC. Pretty amazing, especially when considering this was filmed with literally NO budget! 10 years later, and it still is the project I'm most proud to have been associated with. After many requests, I decided to post the film in it's entirety over the next few days. It's a tribute to these remarkable kids that after all this time, the movie still packs an emotional wallop in every which direction.....
The following is taken from the info-packet that accompanied the film:
OVERVIEW OF THE CONFERENCE
On September 11, 2001, the world changed. Of course everyone has their own story to tell about that day -- where they were at the time, how they found out about the terror that ensued, who they know that survived the attack, and who they know that didn't. The teachers and students at P.S.22 are no exception. As a matter of fact, educators experienced September 11th in a very unique way. We were forced to put our fears and grief on hold. We needed to keep our children feeling safe and secure.
So when the dust settled and our city began to resume a semblance of normalcy, we at P.S.22 were compelled to seek out an appropriate forum for the children to express their emotions, and at the same time, a way to instill in them the focus and drive that it will take to make a better tomorrow. Our goal was to provide our students the opportunity to take September 11th back from the terrorists. We decided to make a movie.
The Conference was created upon a myriad of fascinating connections, both personal and historical. Mr. Gregg Breinberg experienced his brother's pain of having a birthday on September 11th. Immediately the thought occurred; what would it be like for a young child who was born on that day? Working in a school of 1600 children, we knew that some of our students must be experiencing that particular plight. What could we do for these kids?
Mrs. Leslie Johnson had her own special September 11th connection. For years, she and her husband used to be the caretakers at the Conference House, a colonial building on Staten Island that carried a strong historical and geological significance. Living there with her family, she was privy to the knowledge that the house itself was named after a famous peace conference that happened there in 1776, including 2 of the most famous early American heroes, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. This meeting marked the first instance in which the Declaration Of Independence was put to the test. It took place on September 11th.
These two connections led Mr. Breinberg and Mrs. Johnson to form the basic premise of the movie. Why not create a lead character with a September 11th birthday, a situation with which all children could empathize? Why not take this child on a journey of sorts to experience the positive things that happened on September 11th past? We already knew about the Conference House. Our next step was to research all those positive events throughout history that occurred on September 11th.
And yet it wasn't enough to simply immerse ourselves in the past. We needed to look at the here and the now. What were the good things that came out of the tragedy? And what does tomorrow have to offer? We agreed the best way to tell our story would be to put a new spin on the Scrooge theme, in which the September 11th birthday boy would be taken by the spirits of Yesterday, Now, and Tomorrow to experience another side of September 11th.
The movie's foundation became complete upon the decision to include authentic documentary footage of our students to be interspersed with the action of the movie. The documentary segments added a much needed emotional charge to the project, and we used them to punctuate the key points of the film. We were astounded by the profound wisdom of the children's perspective as they spoke candidly about their feelings on the tragedy to our wonderful conflict resolution teacher, Mrs. Jeanne Burns. The children featured truly represent the voice of hope in the film and they provided the emotional outlet for which we were all desperately searching.
This movie was a tremendous effort on the school's part involving lots of time, dedication, and cooperation, as well as the necessary blood, sweat and tears. In its making and upon its viewing, it was, and remains to be, our road to a healing. We believe everyone needs to see it.
PS22 September 11th Docu-drama (2002) Pt. 5 of 5 center for reproductive rights | |
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| Education | Upload TimePublished on 7 Sep 2011 |
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