Film Disputes Construction of 9/11 Museum

 

CREDIT: NIST SIPA/Wikicommons

A new film is showcasing the tensions that came about the construction of the September 11th museum beneath the memorial waterfalls and reflecting pool at the World Trade Center.

Museum officials have objected to The Outside, a documentary recently released surrounding the conflicting visions behind the New York landmark, which had opened in 2014.

The film was released on Facebook and viewers can pay $3.99 to stream it. It will also be available in some theatres and on other streaming services leading to the 20th anniversary of the attack.

It is about two coworkers who had conflicting views on the creation of the museum, Michael Schulan and Alice Greenwald.

"Michael wanted to engender questions. Alice wanted to provide answers," says narrator Bob Garfield.

"It was meant to be an observational documentary. For the first two years, the museum was what we were told it was going to be," said creator Steven Rosenbaum.

Rosenbaum along with the other creator Pamela Yoder have taken Michael's side of the dispute, not liking what the museum has become.

"It's nationalistic, belligerent, and grievance-based. If you went, you would wind up feeling sad and angry, and is that what a museum is supposed to do?"

Museum spokesperson Lee Cochran has said, "At a moment when so many institutions in the U.S. are subject to ideological and partisan divisions, the Memorial & Museum must remain a sacred place that seeks to educate and unify. We made clear to the filmmakers that we were disappointed by many of their decisions, which we think are disrespectful towards victims and their families."

Museum officials were allowed to view the film beforehand, and screened it in May. After the viewing, lawyers sent the filmmakers a whole list of objections.

Most of the objections were ignored, some seeming trivial. One of the main objections was to a scene where museum officials are reviewing a harrowing audiotape of a woman talking to an emergency operator realising she's going to die, as well as a video showing individuals jumping or falling to their deaths.

Museums officials believe these would be too difficult for audiences to watch, considering the objections were rejected.

Filmmakers wanted to showcase the difficult decisions the creative director and curator had to make.  

The museum decided to not take the objections further nor stop the distribution of the film.

Rosenbaum and Yoder have also expressed concerns they have about the museum restricting how researchers can use the video they donated.

The timing of the film's release is difficult for the museum as they have seen an attendance drop due to the pandemic and have had to cut jobs and open days.

The filmmakers were unaware Facebook promoted the film.

"It could be millions of audience members or it could be 35. It's impossible to know and it's gut-wrenching," said Rosenbaum.

The film will also be available in some theatres, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.