CBS to Broadcast 9/11: 10 Years Later, Marks 10th Anniversary of WTC Attack

The CBS Television Network and filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon will present "9/11: 10 YEARS LATER," an update of the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning film, "9/11," to be broadcast on CBS as a special presentation Sunday, Sept. 11 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.

This unprecedented and exclusive insider's account of the World Trade Center attack, which contains the only known footage of the first plane striking the World Trade Center and the only footage from inside Ground Zero during the attacks, will also include footage from events marking the 10th anniversary, as well as new interviews with many of the firefighters who were featured in the original program. They will discuss how their lives, families and the world have changed in the 10 years since the tragedy - some for better, some for worse. Viewers will also hear from New York City Fire Department health officials as they discuss some of the health issues that have plagued firefighters working at Ground Zero.

Two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro returns as host of the program, taking viewers back to Ground Zero 10 years later, as the special presents exclusive footage inside the rebuilding of the site and the 9/11 Memorial.

In May 2001, the New York City Fire Department allowed the Naudets and Hanlon access to film Duane Street's Engine 7, Ladder 1 (Ladder 1 is one of New York's oldest fire companies, founded in 1772). The filmmakers wanted to follow the journey of a probationary firefighter, Tony Benatatos, through the ranks. On Sept. 11, 2001, their film - and their lives - changed forever. On that fateful day, the Naudets were in lower Manhattan shooting footage for the documentary when Jules suddenly heard a roar from above and turned his camera upward. In doing so, he captured the only known video of the first plane striking the World Trade Center. Camera still rolling, Jules followed the firefighters into the heart of what would soon be known as Ground Zero. Gedeon also rushed to the scene. Over the next several hours, the brothers captured extraordinary video unlike any broadcast since, including 75 minutes of footage from inside the North Tower as the rescue effort was underway. Jules' camera was rolling when the South Tower collapsed, creating a thunderous mountain of debris. The order to evacuate the North Tower was issued, and his camera captured the dramatic escape of people running from the building moments before the North Tower came down, with Jules barely escaping with his life.

CBS and the filmmakers have been honored with multiple awards for "9/11," including a George Foster Peabody Award, Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special, Radio-Television News Directors Association Edward R. Murrow Award and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award. The "9/11" presentation, which originally aired six months after the tragedy, again on the one-year anniversary and then on the five-year anniversary, has been watched by more than 60 million people in the U.S. alone, and broadcast in more than 103 countries.

The program has also been lauded by critics nationwide. In its first broadcast on CBS in 2002, The New York Times called it an "extraordinary piece of film" that "has such immediacy that it brings back how unimaginable the events of that day once seemed. An important, firsthand piece of history, the program is also amazing to watch." The New York Daily News called it "an astonishing, riveting, remarkable piece of filmmaking," and The Los Angeles Times said it "sets a new standard for network television." The Denver Post said it is "an eye-opening slice of history," while the Boston Globe wrote that it is "a jarring documentary account of the swath of destruction and the fevered efforts of the firefighters." The Bergen Record called it "an extraordinary eyewitness view of that terrible day," while the Philadelphia Inquirer praised it as "an emotionally searing examination of grace under pressure, miraculous physical survival amid hellish danger, and the ensuing quest for survival of the psyche."

As with the original presentation, the special will include information on how viewers can contribute to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund to benefit all firefighters' families.

Due to the sensitive content and graphic language that appears in parts of the program, the broadcast will include both audio and visual warnings to viewers, as well as in De Niro's introduction, alerting viewers to the content of the program.

Gedeon and Jules Naudet moved to New York City from Paris in 1989 and graduated from New York University Film School. In 2007, they directed and produced their second primetime special on CBS, "In God's Name," which explored the complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of the world's 12 most influential spiritual leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, the Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Dalai Lama. The Naudets are currently directing and producing their next documentary series, the definitive story of the role of the White House Chief of Staff, which gives an intimate look into the decision making in the Oval Office, from the Johnson administration to Obama's. Filmmaker James Hanlon - also a decorated New York City Firefighter - retired from the department in 2007 and has spent the last few years working in Los Angeles in film and television and is a graduate of the UCLA graduate program.

CBS News' Susan Zirinsky remains executive producer of the CBS broadcast, along with Gedeon and Jules Naudet and James Hanlon, and Vanity Fair editor GrayDon Carter (who originally helped bring the project to CBS) and David Friend. Anthony Batson is senior broadcast producer, Mead Stone is producer/editor and Susan Mallie is the producer.

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