Fate Took a Hand in Filmmakers’ Project

Jules and Gedeon Naudet simply wanted to make a film about a rookie New York City firefighter, perhaps dispelling some Hollywood myths about the job. In the end, they did that and much, much more.

On the morning of Sept. 11, Jules Naudet was practicing his camera skills, tagging along on a potential gas-leak run with some members of the firehouse where the two French brothers had been hanging out filming since June. The firehouse served the World Trade Center towers.

So when Jules heard the roar overhead, he followed with his camera, catching the only known footage of the first terrorist-aimed plane to strike the towers--part of the footage that has become the basis for “9/11,” the CBS documentary being broadcast Sunday. Jules went with the firefighters to the scene and got permission to enter the towers with them, filming their attempted rescue operations before the towers came crashing down, and capturing some in their last living moments.

His brother Gedeon, meanwhile, had his unique perspective as he continued filming rookie firefighter Tony Benetatos, who was holding down the firehouse himself. Later, Gedeon headed out in the street, and he was back at the firehouse when members of the crew straggled in after narrowly escaping the collapse.

Many other New Yorkers captured dramatic footage of the day, but the Naudets’ is unique in seeing the events through the eyes of the firefighters, 343 of whom lost their lives. The brothers were also unusual in that, aside from releasing brief footage of the first plane attack to all media outlets, they chose to keep their tapes out of public sight for months.

Not that the footage wasn’t well traveled. The FBI borrowed the tapes for two days to see what it could glean. The footage was also widely circulated in the Fire Department, which found it valuable in reconstructing operations that day.

But the Naudets brushed off attempts to buy their footage, despite offers of “insane amounts of money” that ran into the millions of dollars, Gedeon said.

Eventually, however, a deal was put together that included an article in Vanity Fair and a two-hour CBS broadcast, whittled from the 180 hours of tape the brothers had shot.

It’s an unusual marriage of a major broadcaster and independent documentarians, but the brothers say CBS understood that the story had to be told as a film, and had to serve as a fund-raiser--as the special will do--for scholarships for firefighters’ children. Commercial breaks will be limited and sponsor Nextel will use its time for public service ads.

While the dramatic footage shot in and around the towers is the heart of the broadcast, the documentary includes its original angle--telling the rookie’s story--except that the “probie” (probationary) firefighter had a much steeper learning curve than they expected, a crash course taught in nine grueling hours instead of the usual nine months. The brothers, who had run into some initial resistance to their project from the tight-knit firefighters in the house, forged a bond with their subjects.

“I think we feel in love, completely, with the firehouse and all of them,” Jules said.