Yard 44 and NBC News Studios are thrilled to announce the release of their critically acclaimed film Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11. Officially selected by the Toronto International Film Festival as its centrepiece film to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, this unique and innovative documentary will air 18th January, 9pm on SKY Documentaries ahead of the BAFTA TV Awards.
Directed by filmmakers David Belton (Shooting Dogs, Captive) and Bjørn Johnson (Don't F**k with Cats, Bad Sport), Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 unearths a treasure trove of hidden video testimony to create an original, immersive story of 9/11 and its life-changing impact - both then and now. A revelation midway through the film delivers an emotionally uplifting portrait of the power of the human spirit.
In the months following the attacks, nearly six hundred people - survivors and eyewitnesses from New York, Shanksville and the Pentagon - entered a simple plywood video booth created by the artist, Ruth Sergel. Inside this safe space, ordinary people used a self-operated camera to share their personal memories and record their deepest feelings of trauma and loss.
For twenty years, this remarkable archive remained virtually unseen, until it was rediscovered by Johnson who, together with Belton, envisioned a film that brought new meaning to a much-told historical moment. Weaving dozens of the personal testimonies together with archival footage of the attacks, the result is a startling and visceral work that delivers a raw, confessional intensity rarely seen in conventional documentary. Try the trailer at the link above.
