posted September 03, 2008 01:09 AM            

The Film: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3979568779414136481

The 9/11 Families

The 9/11 Families
Although independent investigations began within weeks of both Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy assassination, the same was not true of the attacks of September 11th. Most are unaware that formation of the 9/11 Commission was strongly opposed by many in Washington, including the Bush administration. It was only due to pressure from the 9/11 families, led by a particular twelve calling themselves the Family Steering Committee, that, fourteen months after the attacks, the first hearing finally began. These twelve remained active in monitoring the Commission’s investigation, providing a list of hundreds of specific, well-researched questions to the Commissioners. In the end, the Final Report failed to answer seventy percent of them.

In ‘9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH’, five of the most prominent members of the Family Steering Committee tell their story for the first time, providing the most powerful argument yet for why 9/11 still needs investigation.

Lorie Van Auken
One of the four famous “Jersey Girls”, Lorie is the widow of Kenneth Van Auken, 47, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of WTC Tower One. She served as a member of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission, and with fellow widows Mindy Kleinberg, Patty Cazassa, Kristen Breitweiser, and Monica Gabrielle runs September 11th Advocates. She continues raising her children in east New Jersey.

Mindy Kleinberg
Another of the famous “Jersey Girls”, Mindy is the widow of Alan Kleinberg, 39, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of WTC Tower One. She served as a member of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission, and with fellow widows Lorie Van Auken, Patty Cazassa, Kristen Breitweiser, and Monica Gabrielle runs September 11th Advocates. She continues raising her children in east New Jersey.

Patty Casazza
A third famous “Jersey Girl”, Patty is the widow of John F. Casazza, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of WTC Tower One. She was one of the twelve members of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission, and with fellow widows Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, Kristen Breitweiser, and Monica Gabrielle serves on the board of September 11th Advocates. Originally from Colts Neck, New Jersey, she now lives in upstate New York.

Monica Gabrielle
Jokingly referred to by the others as “the fifth Jersey Girl”, Monica is the widow of Richard Gabrielle, who worked for Aon in WTC Tower Two. She was one of the twelve members of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission, and with fellow widows Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, Kristen Breitweiser, and Monica Gabrielle serves on the board of September 11th Advocates. She is also co-chair of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign with Sally Regenhard. She continues to reside in Manhattan.

Sally Regenhard
Sally is the mother of Christian Michael Otto Regenhard, a Red Hook probationary firefighter, Ladder 131, who went missing at the WTC. She founded the Skyscraper Safety Campaign and co-chairs it with widow Monica Gabrielle. Sally continues to reside in Bronx, New York.

Bob McIlvaine
Bob is the father of Bobby McIlvaine, 26, Assistant V.P. of media relations at Merrill Lynch, who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. A retired counselor to troubled teenagers and one-time tavern owner from Philadelphia, he was at the hospital in suburban Philadelphia where he worked with teenagers when he heard the news of the attack. Not a member of the Family Steering Committee, Bob became involved early on in the fight for an investigation, attending the families’ June 2002 rally at the Capitol and subsequently joining Committee members at every Commission hearing. He continues to live with his wife in Pennsylvania.

About the Film

Out of the grieving thousands left behind on September 11th, a small group of activist families emerged to demand answers. In 9/11 Press For Truth, six of them (including three of the famous "Jersey Girls") tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the powers in Washington—and won!—compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.

The families eventually found an ally in Paul Thompson. Dissatisfied with the incomplete picture of September 11th presented in most news reports, Thompson became a citizen journalist of sorts. He stitched together thousands of rare overlooked news clips, buried stories, and government press conferences into a definitive Complete 9/11 Timeline (published by Harper Collins as The Terror Timeline). Press For Truth is adapted in part from his acclaimed work, which revealed to the families a very different picture of the road that led to the attacks and the resulting War on Terror, one that still today raises important and pressing questions.

Press For Truth premiered theatrically in September 2006 in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area. With the help of Robert Greenwald's Brave New Theaters, it was rolled out for a limited release in over fifty cities across America as well as Canada, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Australia, and Japan.

The movie was immediately hailed by critics and enthusiastically embraced by a groundswell of concerned people worldwide who felt that the 9/11 Commission and the western news media had failed to account for many important issues. For these thousands, Press For Truth was the rational, skeptical, mainstream motion picture examination of the events of September 11th they had been eagerly awaiting.

On the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Press For Truth aired throughout the Middle East on the Al Jazeera television network. It was soon purchased by TV stations in Spain, Norway, Poland, and all of South America.

In February 2007, Press For Truth received it's U.S. television debut on satellite channel LinkTV where it will be airing repeatedly throughout this year. The DVD is now available for rent at Netflix or Blockbuster.com and for purchase at Borders, Virgin Megastore, Sam Goody, Suncoast, Amazon.com, and many other outlets nationwide.

The Filmmakers

Like Paul Thompson, twenty-something filmmakers Ray Nowosielski and John Duffy had been touched by September 11th but never thought much further about it. In the spring of 2003, during their last semester of film school at Columbia College in Chicago, a friend mentioned The Complete 9/11 Timeline in passing. That evening, Duffy and Nowosielski decided to take a look. They found themselves unable to stop reading, scrolling through the web site until being interrupted by sunrise.

Though the filmmakers had never had any interest in the genre of documentary, as the months passed, they grew to believe that this was a story the American public needed to hear. By the 2nd anniversary of September 11th, they were seeking the funding for what would eventually become ’9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH’. The first investor provided funds in May 2004, allowing for the start of pre-production. The long production phase kicked off with a trip to New York in September 2004.

During that visit, the filmmakers made two important contacts. Paul Thompson’s book, ‘The Terror Timeline’, had just been published by HarperCollins, and he was in New York that week to promote it. After hearing their vision for the movie, Thompson agreed to allow co-producer Duffy and co-producer/director Nowosielski to adapt his work — a major turning point in the direction of the movie. The second important contact was Kyle Hence.

In mid-2003, Hence had co-founded 9/11 CitizensWatch, an advocacy organization which monitored the activities of the 9/11 Commission on behalf of the public and was in close contact with the Family Steering Committee. He agreed to join the production as executive producer (eventually also becoming a co-producer and co-writer), and in the spring of 2005, helped them get interviews with three of the famous “Jersey widows” — another major turning point for the film.

Production wrapped in December 2005, and Hence approached Manhattan-based Globalvision (Beyond JFK, 1992; WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception, 2004) for help in completing the movie. Hence had worked with Globalvision co-founder Danny Schechter in 2004 to develop a never-completed 9/11 documentary.