Eleventh Hour Films Releases DVD of Award-winning Doc "9/12: From Chaos to Community" in Conjuction with its Featured Presentation at the First YearlyKos Convention Screening Series

Eleventh Hour Films releases the DVD of its award-winning documentary "9/12: From Chaos to Community" in conjuction with a screening at the first YearlyKos Convention Screening Series in Chicago on Thursday, August 2nd. An inspiring look at the volunteer response in New York City after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the film is described by Davis Guggenheim, Academy Award winning director of An Inconvenient Truth as "A beautifully crafted documentary… a poem to a group of everyday New Yorkers who discover in themselves a quiet greatness born from the darkness of 9/11."

Chronicling the journeys of a scrappy group of New York City residents who surmounted tremendous obstacles in order to contribute to the recovery effort, the film creates an intimate and vivid portrait of real life at Ground Zero and the close-knit community that emerged from that experience. "What I expected was a grim, dark and hopeless place," says director Susanna Styron of Ground Zero. "What I found instead was a city within a city where people worked, slept, ate, cried — even laughed — and above all gave each other support and comfort. Relationships formed quickly, deeply and permanently — similarly, I suppose, to those of people in war, where the fragility of life and the value of friendship are never more acutely apparent."

Utilizing stunning photographs by such world class photographers as Joel Meyerowitz, and Lori Grinker, moving interviews and live footage, 9/12 conveys the grit and minutiae of a world that lasted only ten months but changed forever the lives of the people who worked there. "I am especially grateful to the filmmakers for capturing so poignantly and accurately the shared feelings of awe, camaraderie, loss, and love that brought everyday people together in our city's greatest time of need," says actor and former New York City firefighter Steve Buscemi.

Critically acclaimed for its gripping cinema verite style and its surprisingly upbeat emotionality, 9/12: From Chaos to Community is also highly recommended by such key educational publications as "Video Librarian Magazine" which gave it three-and-a-half stars for its tremendous value in the areas of service learning, mental health, and disaster response training. "It should be part of every high school social studies curriculum on community building," says Bob Heisler of the "LoHud Blog".

"This is a testimony to the best of human nature," says Delphine Pennewaert, program coordinator of Eureste, the European Commission's resource organization for victims of terrorism, which will use the film as a training tool "to demonstrate what can be done by the community itself after a terrorist threat or attack." In an era of increasing global disasters, both natural and man-made, 9/12 offers a unique and timely examination of grassroots community response, and its potential for transforming the recovery and healing process.

"9/12: From Chaos to Community" is produced by Jacki Ochs and Susanna Styron; directed by Susanna Styron.

Related Links:
http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/
http://www.912film.com/