CBS will air an updated version of the "9/11" documentary about the attacks at the World Trade Center and the firefighters who responded that September day five years ago.
The Emmy- and Peabody-winning documentary, produced by brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet and retired firefighter James Hanlon, will air September 10.
Airing the documentary represents something of an act of courage by CBS, given the gritty language that "9/11" contained in its two previous airings and the chill that is going through the airwaves over federal efforts to curb broadcast indecency. CBS has made no cuts to the language for this telecast. CBS sources said the documentary, which is the true-life portrait of what happened that day, is bound to generate controversy in some quarters.
"It's important to take note of the event as it happened," CBS executive producer Susan Zirinsky said. "And (the filmmakers) have done an amazing job in staying with these guys over five years and evolving with them. You will feel at the end that we've taken a journey again."
The French filmmakers had planned to make a documentary about a year in the life of a rookie firefighter. It became a gripping record of one of the most important days in U.S. history as Jules Naudet went out on a call with the firefighters on September 11, 2001, and filmed American Airlines Flight 11 slamming into the North Tower. What transpired was a transfixing portrait of the firefighters dealing with the crisis that became more dire by the minute. The updated version, which has been in the works for a year, will include interviews with 20 of the firefighters from the downtown Manhattan firehouse where the Naudets had been filming for months. Robert De Niro, who narrated the film, will tape new portions next week. More than 39 million people watched the documentary during its first airing in March 2002.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060810/en_nm/cbs_dc&printer=1