9/11 Kids

2020 Directed by Elizabeth St. Philip

Filmmakers follow up with the students who were with President George W. Bush when he learned of the 9/11 attacks.

88 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Ashton Kinley ★★★

It’s certainly a little rough around the edges, but it is also an extremely timely documentary. Seeing the faces of those children nearly 20 years later is pretty astonishing.
Review by Evan Hoffman ★★½

Second film of the Hot Docs at Home Series on CBC.
Great content, but really missed the mark in the editing room. So many moments that could have been great.
The real 9/11... was the friends they made along the way.
Review by Glenn Dunks ★★★★

Much to admire, here. Ostensibly about the Florida kids in the room when GWB was told about the Twin Towers attack, but which unfolds as a telling narrative around how race and privilege play an obvious, damaging part in the paths of many childrens lives.
Review by ThatShelf.com

The world was forever changed on September 11, 2001. But one of the day’s most iconic images didn’t feature a building in flames or people running in fear – it was a simple classroom picture of then-President George W. Bush, picture book in hand in front of smiling youngsters.
Almost 20 years after that fateful day, a new Canadian documentary explores what the children in that photo are up to now as adults, delivering what is more of a look at the American Dream and socio-economics in a predominantly African-American and Latino community than on that historic moment in time. (However minimal in the documentary, it should be noted that there are visuals of the plane slamming into the second tower of the World Trade Center, an image that is still as jarring and shocking as ever).
Read Rachel West's full 9/11 Kids review here: thatshelf.com/hot-docs-at-home-9-11-kids-review/
Review by cripplegate ★★½

Round 2 of Hot Docs at Home on CBC
It's a great idea, following up with the school kids from that fateful September morning, reading The Pet Goat while President George W. Bush stares off into space, having just received news of a terrorist attack. The story that morning should have been about those kids, a radio host claims at the outset of the film, and that provides the compelling throughline of the documentary; it's not about 9/11, per se, but the way the country as a whole steals the future out from under its marginalized communities.
However, some significant problems hold the film back from actually being informative or incisive in any significant way. Its throughline is never developed…

Recent reviews

Review by Joe ★★½

Missed opportunity here. The access and subject matter is world famous, we all saw the news footage that day of George W Bush reading to the kids, so to hear it from the memory of those who were there that day is something really special. However, I wasn't expecting this documentary to focus on the individual children's lives as much as it did. There were missed opportunities to hear more about how the staff and parents of the children at the school felt that day about it playing out in their school.
However, that said, I have been left a little stunned at the different paths these kids have ended up on. If anything the film has drawn my attention…
Review by slevemcdichael ★★

This was reaching for empathy, but instead landed at exploitative.
Review by Jason Egge

Doc NYC Virtual screening.
Review by Danielle Solzman ★★★★

Devastating Review.
Review by Corey Craft ★★½

Screened virtually with DOC NYC '20 — film #1
Review by mindyanng ★★★★

Hot Docs
Review by brendanpayne ★★★½

I was concerned for a bit that this wasn't going well as how do you make a movie that's just about the kids who were in the room with Bush when he found out the planes hit the tower on September 11, 2001? It's tough to make that interesting.
However what it does right is it just uses that moment as a starting point. All these kids are connected for life from one big moment in time. Where did they go after? What happened to them? Where did their paths take them? What other factors played into their lives? How did this event shape them?
It's a very quaint and nice little flick and every one is really likeable. They've…
Review by Albert Mechsner ★★★

Desordenado en su planteamiento, pero es sobre mucho más que la vida de los niños que estaban con Bush al momento del ataque a las Torres, trata sobre el privilegio y las oportunidades en la vida y su impacto en las minorías en Estados Unidos.
Review by Glenn Dunks ★★★★

Much to admire, here. Ostensibly about the Florida kids in the room when GWB was told about the Twin Towers attack, but which unfolds as a telling narrative around how race and privilege play an obvious, damaging part in the paths of many childrens lives.
Review by Ashton Kinley ★★★

It’s certainly a little rough around the edges, but it is also an extremely timely documentary. Seeing the faces of those children nearly 20 years later is pretty astonishing.
Review by Dan ★★★★

My Lock Down/Quarantined List.
Review by Matilda ★★★½

This is wow