Ground Zero by Bobb VannOrfeus or Paradise Lost by Marike Stokker
A Garden Stepping into the Sky[1] (2002–03) by Ron Drummond is a design for a World Trade Center Memorial built out of the "clay" of functional interior space suitable for commercial, cultural, or residential uses. Praised by New York novelist and critic Samuel R. Delany and architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, Drummond's design was the focus of a documentary by the award-winning independent filmmaker Gregg Lachow and was featured on CNN and KOMO-TV News.
9/11 Flipbook[2] (2005–present) by Scott Blake allows viewers to watch a continuous reenactment of United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Accompanying the images are essays written by a wide range of participants, each expressing their personal experience of the September 11 attacks. In addition, the essays' authors posted their responses to the request that they reflect on, and respond to, the flipbook itself.
Save Manhattan, a series of works by the Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi. Three Installations show Manhattan as if the attacks did not take place, and a light is projected to create a sharply defined shadow of the pre-9/11 skyline of the city. Save Manhattan 1 is made with books, Save Manhattan with videotapes and Save Manhattan 3 is a sound installation with speakers.[4] In the Save Manhattan Video, the skyline progressively dissolves and becomes the memory and the ghost of something that was but that is not anymore.[5]
Adolphus Hailstork – Armageddon (2012) for organ and percussion, and As Falling Leaves (2002) for viola, piccolo, flute and harp
William Lewarne Harris – Rescoria Variations (2001), opera by a Cornish composer commemorating the Cornish national hero Rick Rescorla, who died saving lives at the Twin Towers
Aivars Kalējs – Musica dolente (2001-3) for orchestra, dedicated to the innocent victims of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The world premiere conducted by Andris Nelsons.
Aaron Jay Kernis – Sarabanda in memoriam, an arrangement for string orchestra of a movement from his Second String Quartet (1998)
Phil Kline – September 22 Vigil, a walking vigil performed in Manhattan on the evening of 22 September 2001, between Union Square and Washington Square.
11'09"01 September 11 (2002), an international anthology film composed of contributions from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, and the US, each exploring reactions to 9/11.
Copilot (2021), a German-French film by Anne Zohra Berrached, based on United Airlines Flight 93's hijacker pilot Ziad Jarrah and his relationship with Aysel Sengün, prior to the events of the 9/11 attacks.
9/11 Kids, a 2020 Canadian documentary film about the now young adults who were in the classroom where president George W. Bush was reading "The Pet Goat" when he was interrupted and informed of the attacks.
9/11: Press for Truth, a 2006 American independent film which investigates the events of 9/11.
Beyond Belief, a 2007 American independent film about the post-9/11 experiences of two women who lost their husbands on 9/11 and who set up a humanitarian program for war widows in Afghanistan.
Bowling for Columbine, a 2002 American documentary film by Michael Moore that refers to the events of 9/11 in its "Wonderful World" montage.
United States of Banana, 2011 series of art films by photographer Michael Somoroff, based on the 9/11 novel United States of Banana by Hispanic-American author Giannina Braschi.
Firefighters: Heroes of Ground Zero, a 2002 American made-for-television WNET documentary film following firemen from two firehouses in the days and weeks following 9/11.[8]
independent film about a hijacked airliner. The film introduces its story by pretending since 9/11 there would be a so-called "Firelight Protocol" which had been "designed to protect those on the ground".
The attack on the World Trade Center serves as the film's climax and twist ending; the film does not show the attacks, but rather relies on audiences realising what's about to happen.
Arabs and Terrorism (2007), an American documentary in six languages, filmed in 11 countries, comprising 120 interviews with "experts/politicians and hundreds of street interviews in the United States, Europe, and the Arab world."[11][12][13]
Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath (2006), an American documentary made in response to the murder of a Sikh man as a result of the post-9/11 atmosphere.[14][15]
Stand Up: Muslim-American Comics Come of Age (2009), an American documentary about five stand-up comedians who respond to the post-9/11 atmosphere.[16][17]
Video, television, and theatrical release: feature films
a British film that tells the story of Nazneen, a Bengali who grew up in Bangladesh. It follows her experiences after she moves to London before, during, and after 9/11.
an Indian film about the murder of Ranveer Singh's younger brother (who was living in the United States when it happened) as a result of the post 9/11 climate.
2006
Just Your Average Arab
Raouf Zaki
a 2006 American film in which "Arab-American characters meet in the storage room of a convenience store where they take an 'Arab American Survival Guide post 9/11' class."[18][19]
a Pakistani film that tells the story of three Pakistanis and their lives before and after 9/11 in regards to the after-effects to Muslim Americans from the 9/11 reactions.
an Indian film that is a Bildungsroman of the life of Rizwan Khan. It begins with his childhood in Mumbai and progresses to his later years living in the United States before, during and after the events of 9/11 in regards to the after-effects to Muslim Americans from the 9/11 reactions.
an Indian film that tells the story of Samir, Maya, and Omar. They are three New York college students whose lives are changed by 9/11 and its aftermath.
an Indian film that is a comedy about journalist Ali Hassan living in Pakistan. Due to his desperation to migrate to the U.S., he makes a fake Osama bin Laden video using a look-alike, and sells it to TV channels.
an Indian film that tells the story of a group of people from India who were aboard the ill-fated flights that crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon on 9/11.
Ill Bethisad (1997–present), a collaborative alternate history project. Like in real life, September 11, 2001, was marked by a tragedy where two twin towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists although there are also several differences between the attacks in reality and the fictional alternate universe where Ill Bethisad takes place. The first difference is that "New York City" was never called by that name, instead using its original name of "New Amsterdam". The second difference is that two airships were used for the attack as airplanes never caught on in Ill Bethisad. Others include the face that the buildings themselves, the "World Trade Towers" are built in a style that resembling the Chrysler Building instead of the World Trade Center as well as that due the different structures between airships and airplanes, the towers did not completely collapse (although the top 20 floors of both do fall off thanks to an explosion caused by the airships using hydrogen instead of helium to fly). Another was that unlike real life, the attack on the towers was the only attack on that day. The final and most important differences to reality was that the attacks were done by a cult called "The Janus Fellowship" (named after "Janus" the Roman god of duality) who did it in an attempt to recreate a similar attack in a twin parallel world (implied to be the 9/11 attacks of real life) to allow the attackers to achieve enlightenment by a meaningful death. For four years, it was a mystery who caused the attacks as no organization claimed responsibility for the attacks while investigations stalled and conspiracy theories circulated. In fact, the collaborators of the Ill Bethisad project moved on to other parts of the storyline not related to the attacks and came up with the cult after realizing that they forgot to add a perpetrator.[20][21]
The Best Page in the Universe (1997–present), a satirical website run by George Ouzounian (better known as "Maddox"). One part of the site spoofs the 9/11 conspiracy theory film series Loose Change with a set of pages (and a corresponding YouTube video) titled "Unfastened Coins". Both parody Loose Change by applying the same methods that the series uses for 9/11 to another disaster, the Sinking of theTitanic in 1912. In "Unfastened Coins", Maddox joking purports the Titanic sinking was not an accident but instead, the ship was deliberately sunk as part of a government conspiracy. As a result of this spoof, Maddox shows that the logic used by Loose Change is actually outlandish.[22] On another page, with the title "There is no 9/11 conspiracy you morons", Maddox once again spoofs Loose Change by noting various inconsistencies with the series. For example, Maddox noted that Dylan Avery, the creator of Loose Change was still alive while noting that it 9/11 really is a government conspiracy then Avery would be dead by now because the US government would have assassinated him to stop the secret from leaking. Maddox noted how many people would need to be involved in such a large-scale conspiracy that Avery claims 9/11 was and showing that if that was true than one of those people would have revealed it by now. Maddox also claims that if one folds the backs of certain U.S. dollar notes depicting the White House, The note turns into two depictions of 9/11 though Maddox goes out of his way to show that it is a coincidence and that the notes had that design years before 9/11 even happened.[23]
"The Caribou Herd" (2003) by Miles Hitchcock won The Age Short Story Award in 2003. The narrator is an elderly English man with dementia, flying to New York on the day of the attacks and reminiscing about the 20th Century.
Dead Air (2002) by Iain Banks. An early chapter is set in London on September 11, 2001. The main protagonist is a left-wing radio "shock jock" attending a wedding when news of the attacks filters through (Tuesday afternoon British time).
Eleven (2006) by David Llewellyn. The novel takes place in Cardiff and London on September 11 and deals with the impact the terrorist attacks have on the lives of people in the UK.
False Impression (2005) by Jeffrey Archer. The novel is a thriller that takes place during and immediately after 9/11. The heroine, Anna Petrescu, survives the World Trade Center attack.
Netherland (2008) by Joseph O'Neill. The novel tells the story of a Dutch businessman who lives in New York and is traumatized by the events of 9/11.
When God Was a Rabbit (2011) by Sarah Winman. The protagonist and her brother are living in America at the time of the 9/11 attacks, and the main character believes her brother and his best friend have died in the crash.
Windows on the World (2003) by Frédéric Beigbeder. The novel is set in the restaurant at the top of the North Tower on September 11. It tells the story of Carthew Yorston and his two sons as they try to escape or somehow survive the attack. Each chapter of the book represents one minute in time between 8:30 and 10:30 on 9/11. It also features a parallel narrative wherein the author, a French writer sympathetic to America, discusses the process of writing the book and his motivations for doing so.
American Widow (2008) by Alissa Torres. A graphic novel by Alissa Torres, who was eight months pregnant when her husband Eddie Torres perished in the WTC on 9/11.
Bleeding Edge (2013) by Thomas Pynchon. The novel is a detective story which takes place between the burst of the dot-com bubble and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004) by Stephen King. Two characters place an artifact known as Black Thirteen in a coin-op storage unit in the World Trade Center in 1999, intending to leave it there forever. After leaving, they half-jokingly discuss what would happen if the towers were to collapse on the object.
A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (2006), by Ken Kalfus. The novel follows the lives of New Yorkers Joyce and Marshall Harriman who are in the middle of a nasty divorce. In the early morning hours of September 11, Marshall leaves for the World Trade Center and Joyce for the airport.[25][26]
Everyman (2006), by Philip Roth. The protagonist of the novel moves to the New Jersey shore as a result of the fear he feels in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005) by Jonathan Safran Foer. The novel follows the narrator, 9-year-old Oskar Schell, whose father was on the upper floors of the World Trade Center when the jets crashed into the Twin Towers. To fight his grief and quell his imagination, Oskar embarks on a quest to find what he hopes is his father's most illuminating secret. In service of this quest, Oskar conquers many of his irrational fears and comforts other damaged souls.
Forever (2003) by Pete Hamill. The novel tells the story of an Irish immigrant who is granted immortality, provided that he never leaves the island of Manhattan. Hamill completed his manuscript at 11:20 pm on the evening of September 10, 2001; he was about to deliver it to his editor when the attacks occurred. He spent another year revising the book. As a result, the 9/11 attacks form the culmination of 250 years of New York history described in the novel.[27]
The Good Life (2006) by Jay McInerney. The novel takes place immediately before, during, and after the events of 9/11.
Home Boy (2009) by H. M. Naqvi. The novel tells the story of three Pakistani college students, AC, Jimbo and Chuck, before and after 9/11.
"In Spirit", a science fiction novella by Pat Forde, published in Analog in September 2002 and nominated for a Hugo Award. A time travel story in which a form of "spiritual" time travel is perfected in the middle of the 21st century and the aged children of 9/11 victims are given the opportunity to go back in time and be with their loved ones "in spirit" in their final moments.
Last Night in Twisted River (2009) by John Irving. Portions of the end of the novel take place on September 10 and 11, 2001, and deal with several characters' reactions to learning about the attacks.
Let the Great World Spin (2009) by Colum McCann. The novel focuses on Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope crossing of the Twin Towers, and the effects it has on New Yorkers in 1974. At the end, the novel jumps to 2005, in which one of the character's daughters deals with living in a post-9/11 world, connecting the destruction of the towers to Petit's 1974 walk.
The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (2012) by Jacob Appel. The novel depicts the life of fictional botanist Arnold Brinkman, a New Yorker falsely branded a terrorist-sympathizer in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice (2011, non-fiction) edited by Alia Malek.[28]
Pattern Recognition (2003) by William Gibson. The first novel to address the attacks; the main character is a marketing consultant whose father disappeared in Manhattan on the morning of September 11.
Small Wonder, a collection of 23 essays on environmentalism and social justice by novelist and biologist Barbara Kingsolver, published in 2002 and written in response to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
"The Suffering Channel" (2004) is a novella by David Foster Wallace in Oblivion: Stories. Set in July 2001, its central protagonist, Skip Atwater, is a journalist who works for the fictional Style Magazine, which is located in the World Trade Center. Atwater is attempting to write an article about a midwestern artist, Brint Moltke (whose excrement reportedly resembles famous cultural objects) for the September 10, 2001, issue of Style.
Theater of the Stars: A Novel of Physics and Memory (2003) by N. M. Kelby. The novel centers on two women, a mother and daughter. Both of them are physicists - and both of them have dizzying gaps in their memories of their pasts.
United States of Banana (AmazonCrossing 2011) by Giannina Braschi is a dramatic novel in which the collapse of the Twin Towers marks the fall of the American empire on September 11, 2001.[30]
United We Stand (2009) a novel that focuses on the aftermath of the attacks.
Villa Incognito (2003) by Tom Robbins. The novel features several scenes of military and CIA officials reacting to news of the attacks.
We All Fall Down (2006) by Eric Walters. September 11, 2001, was "Bring Your Kids to Work Day", and the main protagonist, Will was going to meet with his father in his office in the World Trade Center. This novel focuses on how Will and his relationship with his father changes on the day of the 9/11 attacks.
The Zero (2006) by Jess Walter is a novel about Brian Remy, a New York City police officer suffering memory gaps in the wake of 9/11.[31]
Fallacies of Wonder (2001) by Richard Howard is poem about the difficult task of trying to remember the Twin Towers as they actually were now that they are gone.[36]
Inventory (2006) by Dionne Brand is a collection of poems written about the importance of witnessing in a globalized post-9/11 world.[37]
Routine Procedure(s) 2: Prayer Beads of Cold Sweat or Driving While Izlaamic (2006) by Ismail Khalidi (writer)[38]
December (2001) by Frederick Seidel contains the line "I am flying into area code 212/ To stab a Concorde into you", referring to Manhattan's famous area code. It was published in the Wall Street Journal on December 13, 2001.[44]
Euphoria (2019) - In the pilot episode, Rue Bennett narrates that she was born “three days after 9/11” while a plane crashes into one of the towers.[45]
Homeland (2011–2020) - The show centers on the characters of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a bipolar Central Intelligence Agency officer, and Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a homecoming U.S. Marine. Mathison has come to believe that Brody, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was "turned" by the enemy and now supposedly poses a serious threat to the security of the United States. The series' first season in particular plays with the steadily-shifting equilibrium of not-knowing who-is-who and thrillingly depicts the aftermath of 9/11 as a national trauma and the fragile state the nation's collective mind has been left with.[47]
Ramy (2019) - In "Strawberries," the fourth episode of Ramy, the lead character as an adolescent is already having enough trouble fitting in before the terrorist attacks make him even more isolated at his New Jersey middle school. Footage of the smoking towers is seen only briefly, for establishing purposes, on the screen of his classroom.[45]
Rescue Me (2004-2011) an FX series about firefighters in New York City with the aftermath of the attacks and the impact on the characters used as plot points.
The Lone Gunmen (2001) - In the pilot episode of this short-lived spinoff of The X-Files, the plot has similarities to both the 9/11 attacks itself and popular conspiracy theories about them, which is completely coincidental because it aired in March 2001, six months before the real attacks.[48] The episode involves the eponymous conspiracy theorists The Lone Gunmen uncovering a plot by rogue members of the U.S. government to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center, blame it on terrorists and use it to start a war.[48] In the episode, The Lone Gunmen successfully foil the plot by taking over the controls and flying it away just before it hits the towers.[48]
Travelers - The first test of sending human consciousness through time involved sending a man to the World Trade Center on September 11, minutes before Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. The test is featured in the first episode of season 2.
Bystander 9/11 (2001) by Meron Langsner. A documentary play written by a playwright who survived the attacks in NYC.[49]
The Domestic Crusaders (2005) by Wajahat Ali. The play is about a Pakistani-American Muslim family grappling with their own internal struggles, the changing dynamics of American society and a globalized, post-9/11 world.
The God of Hell (2004) by Sam Shepard. The play was written in part as a response to the post-9/11 atmosphere.
The Guys (2001) by Anne Nelson. The play explores the memories and emotions of a surviving fire captain and a writer who helps him write eulogies for his lost comrades.
The Mercy Seat (2002) by Neil LaBute. The play is about a protagonist who considers faking his death after having coincidentally survived the attacks.
Recent Tragic Events (2003) by Craig Wright. The play takes place on September 12, 2001, and deals with a blind date between a man and a woman who is trying to reach her sister, who lives in New York.[50]
Elegies (2003), a song cycle by William Finn about deaths of friends and family, concludes with three songs about the September 11 attacks and the aftermath.
Truth Serum Blues (2005) by Ismail Khalidi. The play tells of the story of Kareem a "young Arab-American" whose life is changed by the Post-9/11 atmosphere.[51]
Good Morning Gitmo (2014) by Mishu Hilmy and Eric Simon is a one-act dark comedy. The play takes place decades into the future, where the warden creates a deranged morning talk show for the staff and detainees stuck on Camp Delta. The play devolves when actual visitors from the mainland arrive.[53]
Ordinary Days (2008) by Adam Gwon. In the song "I'll Be Here", the character Claire recalls the events of September 11 and the loss of her husband in the attack, coincidentally on their one-year wedding anniversary.
8:46 – A virtual reality video game which takes place inside the World Trade Center during the attacks.[56]
Laden VS USA – A LCDhandheld electronic game that is heavily based on 9/11 that displays a photo of the World Trade Center wreckage, alongside those of Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush on the box art and on the game machine itself. The screen on the system also displays a World Trade Center wreckage photo.[57][58] The game has two modes.[57] One allows you to play as Osama and fly planes into the World Trade Center, the other allows you to play as the United States and deflect the planes from the towers.[57] This game was made in China and was supposedly manufactured by Chinese company Panyu Gaming Electronic Co. Ltd., located in Guangzhou, China but it is unknown if Panyu Gaming actually made the game due to mass counterfeiting in China.[58] Some copies of Laden VS USA were shipped to the United States and have even been put on sale in New York City.[57][58][59] In 2005, A Brooklyn store called "Oakdale Dairy" caused outrage among Brooklyn residents by displaying the game for sale, the store withdrew the game from its shelves due to the outrage.[59] Other stores in the United States have banned the game outright due its subject matter, which was considered in very poor taste.[58] During a YouTube toy review video by Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia, Mozart noted in his Fail Toys review of Laden VS USA that "it boggles the mind that it was actually manufactured and sent to the United States".[57]
Terrifying 9.11 – an unlicensedGame Boy Color game that was an unlicensed port of the run and gunarcade gameMetal Slug.[60][61] This game was not licensed either by Nintendo (the creators of the Game Boy Color) or by SNK (the developers of the original Metal Slug arcade game).[60][61] This game was originally planned for release as Metal Slug to match the title of the game it is based on but during development, the 9/11 attacks happened and either Ruanxin Co., Ltd. (the developer of the game) or Hitek (the publisher) decided to change it into a 9/11-themed game.[61] This involved altering the game from the arcade original by changing the title, adding video footage of 9/11 to the title screen and adding cutscenes before and after each level where George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden (characters who otherwise make no appearances in the game) taunt each other.[60][61] The original Metal Slug title screen planned for the game before it got turned into Terrifying 9.11 is actually still in the game's files, albeit unused.[61] These changes aside, the game is very accurate to the arcade original at least as the Game Boy Color allows compared to the much powerful Neo Geo arcade system that ran Metal Slug and had unusually high quality production for an unlicensed game.[60][61]Terrifying 9.11 was released in two languages, English and Chinese.[60] This game is infamous for its 9/11 theme.[60][61] In 2018, a ROM hack of Terrifying 9.11 was made to turn it back into Metal Slug by removing the cutscenes though this version does not restore the original title screen due to technical reasons but instead changes the words "Terrifying 9.11" to "Metal Slug, maintaining the World Trade Center in the background.[62]
