Arbon Valley filmmaker tells untold story of Ground Zero in 9/11 documentary
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ARBON VALLEY — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, an Arbon Valley filmmaker is telling a lesser-known story about what happened after the rubble was cleared and New York City faced a difficult question: What should become of Ground Zero?
Josh Sabey is an independent filmmaker, director, writer, cinematographer and co-founder of Matters Media, a production company focused on documentaries that explore complex social issues and human stories. His previous directing credits include “American Tragedy,” “Blue Baby” and “The Basement Talks.”
Sabey and his wife, Sarah Perkins Sabey, are also the creators of the For Little Saints children’s book series.
Now, Sabey, with his wife’s help, has produced “9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero,” a documentary that explores the emotional and heated debate over rebuilding the World Trade Center site and the massive public effort that shaped its future.
“The goal of Matters Media is to tell important stories and tell them beautifully — not from a place of politics or for a particular audience or agenda, but to help people work together,” Sabey said.
The story that inspired the film
At the heart of the documentary is Listening to the City, a massive public forum held at New York’s Javits Center in July 2002 to give ordinary New Yorkers a voice in deciding what should become of the World Trade Center site.
Sabey first became interested in documenting the story a few years ago after meeting Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founder of AmericaSpeaks, who helped organize the event.
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The more Sabey learned about Listening to the City and tracked down people who had participated, the more convinced he became that it was a story worth telling.
More than two decades later, he said, the emotion surrounding 9/11 remained raw for many of the people he interviewed. Some still broke down in tears as they recalled the attacks and their aftermath.
“Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11 and the human cost,” Sabey said. “This was New Yorkers coming together for a terrible event.”
However, Sabey said the trauma extended well beyond the immediate aftermath. Political divisions deepened, relationships suffered and New Yorkers disagreed intensely over what should happen to the place where nearly 3,000 people had died.
What should become of Ground Zero?
In the aftermath of 9/11, rebuilding Lower Manhattan quickly became about much more than replacing office buildings.
Some wanted the Twin Towers rebuilt exactly as they had been. Others believed nothing should be built where so many people had died. Many wanted the site preserved as a memorial.
“While it was agreed that Ground Zero is a sacred space, survivors, victims’ families, residents, business owners, architects, activists and government officials all had a stake in what happened next, and emotions ran high,” Sabey said.
More than 5,000 people gathered at the Javits Center for Listening to the City. It one of the largest public town hall meetings in American history.
Participants sat at round tables and considered six proposed plans for redeveloping the World Trade Center site. But rather than choosing among the options they were given, participants overwhelmingly rejected the proposals and pushed planners to rethink their approach.
Despite their differences, Sabey said one major point of agreement emerged: The footprints where the Twin Towers had stood should remain untouched.
The public response prompted city and state officials to reconsider the redevelopment plans and pursue a new vision that incorporated the public’s input.
The process eventually helped shape the Ground Zero that millions of people visit today, where the footprints of the towers are preserved as part of the National September 11 Memorial.
“9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero” features survivors, victims’ family members, planners and public officials involved in the rebuilding process, including former New York Gov. George Pataki, architect Daniel Libeskind and Lukensmeyer.
But for Sabey, the documentary is about more than what was ultimately built at Ground Zero. It explores what can happen when thousands of grieving, angry and divided people are given an opportunity to listen to one another and have a voice in decisions about their shared future.
The film was released earlier this year and has been shown internationally, including at the Seoul International Eco Film Festival.
How to watch
“9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero” will be available to rent on Amazon Prime Video beginning Sept. 1 and will be available to watch for free on Sept. 11 for Amazon Prime subscribers. For more options on viewing the documentary, go to 9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero
Twenty-five years after the attacks, Sabey hopes the largely forgotten story of Listening to the City offers something that remains relevant today: an example of people with profoundly different viewpoints finding a way to work together.
To explore Sabey’s other videos, go to Matters Media.