by Greta Schiller

2002, Human Interest, 26', USA

English

I LIVE AT GROUND ZERO is a film about 9/11 and its aftermath, from the point of view of an articulate nine year old girl who witnessed the tragic events from her classroom window.

Since birth Isabella has lived in Tribeca, New York City, in the shadow of the World Trade Center towers. Her public school was two blocks North of them. The Towers served as her north star, by which she learned to navigate. Her community was shattered on September 11th.

Over the following months, Greta Schiller filmed Isabella’s attempts to make sense of the enormity of sudden changes in her life. Out of her classroom window she had seen bodies falling from the north tower, a sight she has been unable to forget but until recently refused to talk about. Growing up is usually a gentle, gradual process, however Isabella’s experiences have catapulted her into a maturity beyond her years. The film starts with her evacuation from home and culminating in the reopening of her neighborhood school in February 2002.

Produced by Jezebel Films

SARK, small world

by Joost Seelen

2002, Cultural, 56', NL

English

Sark is Europe's smallest feudal state, situated about 35 kilomters off the French Coast. Although it is part of the United Kingdom it has its own parliament and laws. There's no cars, no crime, no income tax, no divorce, no social service and no regular police force.

The people of Sark not only form a stubborn and closed community but they also have their own traditions, and a few - by European standards - peculiar laws.
The island, with a surface area of 10 square kilometres, is one of the Channel Islands and belongs to the British Crown. Some 550 people inhabit the island but this is just an estimate as there is no parish register. The lord of the island, Seigneur Michael Beaumont, pays the British Crown an annual rent of about two pounds.

On first sight Sark seems to be a paradise but his film shows the inside of life on Sark. Conflicts between tradition and modernisation, native islander and stranger, Sark and the outside world are the film's main focus.

Produced by www.zuidenwind.nl

THE MAKING OF MUTANT ALIENS

by Bill Plympton / Anthony Arcede

2002, Cultural, 90', USA

English

Excerpts of Bill Plympton's diaries made during the filmmaking process of his latest feature Mutant Aliens.

TIME OF FEAR

by Ambrica Productions, Inc.

Written and directed by Sue Williams.

Produced by Kathryn Dietz.

2004, History/Human Interest, 56', USA, English

more info!

In World War II more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and relocate to military camps dotted across the western United States. Time of Fear tells the story of the 16,000 men, women and children who were sent to two camps in southeast Arkansas, one of the poorest and most racially segregated places in America. It is also explores the reactions of the native Arkansans who watched in bewilderment as their tiny towns were overwhelmed by this huge influx of outsiders.

Using rare home movies of the camp and interviews with Japanese Americans and Arkansans who lived these events, Time of Fear is a tale of suspicion and fear, of resilience, and of the deep scars left by America’s long and unfinished struggle with race. Today, in the aftermath of 9/11, Time of Fear resonates with chilling power.

Funding for the film was provided by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, funded the Real Estate Transfer Tax; and by the Arkansas Humanities Council Department of Arkansas Heritage.