Children of 9/11 (2011)—fantastic documentary, atrocious poster.

The marketing department must have phoned this one in. That big blocky title slapped over a family photo makes it look like some cheap tragedy-porn cash-in. Amateur hour all around. You’d think Channel 4 or NBC would have given a damn.

But the film itself is the opposite of saccharine. Janice Sutherland—who’s been quietly making excellent documentaries for years—pulled off something remarkable. She doesn’t wallow in the spectacle of 9/11. She gives the floor to the kids. Eleven of them, from six families, filmed over the course of a year. And that’s the real power here.

You hear from Deena Burnett’s daughters, still navigating life after their father fought back on Flight 93. From Caitlin Langone, whose NYPD dad never came home. From Rodney Ratchford, whose mother died at the Pentagon. From Terry Strada’s kids, still searching for meaning.

And then there’s the Muslim girl whose father worked at the top of the Towers—who not only lost him but grew up with people looking at her like she was the enemy. That’s a double burden no child should carry.

The film doesn’t interrupt, doesn’t editorialize. Just lets them talk. One of the kids even says the worst part is the annual reminder—every September you get told to “never forget,” which makes it impossible to actually move forward. That’s the sort of truth we rarely hear in the grand, patriotic anniversaries.

What strikes me is how few people have actually seen this. It aired on Channel 4 in the UK, NBC picked it up for the tenth anniversary, and then it sort of disappeared. Yet the people who do watch it rave about it.

This is exactly the kind of documentary worth revisiting—stripped of politics, stripped of the usual “we will rebuild” bombast, just letting the children of 9/11 speak for themselves. Sutherland knew better than to speak over them.

So yeah, forget the poster. Forget the lousy marketing. Children of 9/11 is the rare anniversary documentary that matters. Highly recommended.

**Where to watch**:

YouTube (free): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTZcTRGqjB0

Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0O2SAZJJQZ4LXGEKKB2SHW5M2M

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