invasion of Afghanistan. But it never truly
answers the whys. Maybe no one can.
Schatz doesn’t avoid some of the terrible images
of the day: the second plane striking the World
Trade Center and resultant fireball, the collapse
of each tower and the giant clouds of debris
that billowed through the canyons of city
streets. Schatz didn’t want to avoid those clips,
since kids know that planes crashed into the
buildings, but she opted not to spend much
time on them “so that we didn’t create too many
lingering after-images in people’s minds.”
As part of her research, Schatz interviewed
alumni of Stuyvesant High School near the
World Trade Center site. But the memories of
what they saw, heard and smelled that day —
and the uncertainty of how they would get
home from school — proved too raw. That’s why
“In the Shadow of the Towers: Stuyvesant High
on 9/11” is a separate film that premieres on
HBO three hours after the first one.
Schatz said a school curriculum is being
developed for teaching children about the
tragedy, and “What Happened on September
11” will be made available to schools for free.
The film is aimed generally at children ages
7 to 12.
Throughout her work, Schatz kept returning
to the memory of the youngster searching for
details about Sept. 11 on the internet.
“You can’t protect kids from what they’re going
to come across,” she said. “It seemed to me there
was an opportunity to put something out there
that is age-appropriate and not too scary and
give them the tools they need to understand the
world around them.”