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Underground Zero (2002)

Director: Robert Edwards, Caveh Zahedi, Jay Rosenblatt

Producers: Jay Rosenblatt, Caveh Zahedi

Genre: Documentary

Runtime: 70 min.

Synopsis

One week after the events of September 11th, independent filmmakers Jay

Rosenblatt and Caveh Zahedi put out a call to over 150 experimental and

documentary filmmakers asking for contributions to a collective film

project addressing those tragic events and their aftermath. The

response was overwhelming and Underground Zero is the result.

Films include:

1. THE END OF SUMMER - Frazer Bradshaw (3:00)

2. THE VOICE OF THE PROPHET - Robert Edwards (7:00)

3. CHINA DIARY (911) - Eval Ilona Brzeski (12:00)

4. ISAIAH'S RAP - Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman (3:00)

5. BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH TIBETAN MONKS - Paul Harrill (5:00)

6. THE WORLD IS A CLASSROOM - Caveh Zahedi (14:00)

7. A STRANGE MOURNING - David Driver (5:00)

8. 21 - Laura Plotkin (3:00)

9. THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT - John Haptas & Kristine Samuelson

(4:00)

10. PRAYER - Jay Rosenblatt (3:00)

11. UNTITLED - Ira Sachs (6:00)

...plus 14 additional shorts

1. NEW YORK - Chel White (5:30)

2. BROOKLYN PROMENADE - Mark Street (2:39)

3. BOTH TOWERS HAVE FALLEN - Cathy Cook (2:00)

4. NO NEWS - Bushra Azzouz (4:28)

5. PARTHENOGENESIS - Marina Zurkow (1:33)

6. LANGUAGE LESSONS - Jeanne C. Finley & John Muse (9:00)

7. END OF AN ERA - Lucas Sabean (6:00)

8. MEAL - Cathy Crane & Sarah Jewison (3:32)

9. COLLATERAL DAMAGE - Marcial Jarmel (3:00)

10. DRINK FROM THE RIVER - Thad Povey & the Scratch Film Junkies

(3:00)

11. FEAR ITSELF - Dan Weir (3:13)

12. WAKE - Abigail Severance & Julia Inez Gandelsonas (4:13)

13. AWAKE - Greg Watkins (:36)

14. 9/10 - Thomas Logoreci (8:00)

Producers Statement

Like everyone else in America, we both were glued to the television on

the days immediately following September 11th. Although we felt shocked

and horrified by the attacks and the devastation, we also felt

frustrated by the media's coverage. It was as if the media had decided

what we, as Americans, were supposed to think and feel.

In reaction to the paucity of rational debate and soul searching, we

felt a need both to speak out for ourselves and to create a forum for

others to speak out for themselves as well.

Thus was born Underground Zero, a collaborative project

conceived as a means of counteracting the silencing of voices that was

occurring in the mainstream media. We were able to quickly contact over

a hundred fellow filmmakers and ask them to contribute shorts to a

collective "omnibus" film project (see Initial Call).

The response was overwhelming, and the result is a historical document

which we believe embodies the ideals upon which America was founded:

pluralism, tolerance, and self-rule.

Today, more than ever, there is a need for diverse voices to be

heard. Underground Zero is our attempt to make a meaningful

contribution to the current political and cultural discourse.

-Jay Rosenblatt & Caveh Zahedi

This film is provided to Film.com through its relationship with

CABINETIC (http://www.cabinetic.com),

a San Francisco-based company with an extensive library of independent,

international and documentary films.