911 Press For Truth

9/11: PRESS FOR TRUTH 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. 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. -The FilmmakersLike 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.

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. -Reviews“A truly excellent film.” -James Ridgeway, Mother Jones “One of those rare creatures in modern media: A Sept. 11 study stripped of politics and partisanship. It's the anti-'Fahrenheit 9/11'!” -Paul F.P. Pogue, NUVO Newsweekly “'Al Franken: God Spoke' may or may not give Ann Coulter a headache, but '9/11 Press For Truth' will give her a f***ing migraine!” -Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine “Disturbing!” -Bonnie Britton, Indianapolis Star “Caused the audience to gasp out loud and look around in disgust... Grab a bag of popcorn and prepare to be educated!” -Erin Scottberg, The Weekly Buzz “3 ½ out of 4 stars! Effectively makes the point that the Bush regime has a lot to answer for.” -Jay Carr, AM New York “3 ½ out of 4 stars! Let the facts they've uncovered do the talking, knowing full well they are enough to raise the ire of any viewer.” -Chuck Koplinski, The Hub Weekly

9/11: Press for Truth is a 2006 documentary film about the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, directed by the American filmmaker Ray Nowosielski.

Approximately half of 9/11: Press for Truth follows three of the Jersey Girls (activist widows of individuals killed in the attacks) as well as other family members in their search for the truth about the attacks and subsequent government response that they believe had been hidden by the United States government and media. The focus is particularly on efforts by the George W. Bush administration following the attacks to obstruct the establishment of an independent investigation, and traces the efforts of the 9/11 family members whose pressure finally helped to convince the administration to create the 9/11 Commission.1 It further explores the many questions about the events of 9/11 and the government's handling of the situation, and makes the point that 70 percent of the detailed questions developed by and presented to the 9/11 Commission remain unanswered.[1] The film draws on the Complete 9/11 Timeline (a website later published as The Terror Timeline), authored under the pseudonym "Paul Thompson", for part of its narrative. The second half of the film identifies a number of media stories suggesting various links between the hijackers, Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Pakistani ISI.

"Press for Truth" connects the dots of what we don't know and should know with such tantalizing professionalism that we became angered once again at how we have been given historical revisionism in the form of a heroic Bush myth, rather than a chance at knowing the facts. "Press for Truth" would probably be considered a mainstream 9/11 theory film because it doesn't imply government planning of 9/11, but it does clearly indicate government negligence leading up to 9/11 and during the day of the disaster itself. Futhermore, it raises questions that leave you strongly thinking that the Bush Administration never really wanted to capture Osama bin Laden -- and willfully let him and hundreds of his fighters escape into Pakistan. The evidence on that score is pretty damning. The documentary raises the likelihood of close Pakistani intelligence service involvement in 9/11. After the tragedy, the Bush Administration gave Pakistan a pass and decided to use the horrifying event as an excuse to invade Iraq. This is both an emotionally compelling account, as it is credible. Is it true? We don't know yet what version of 9/11 is true, because our government will only give us lies, not the facts. BuzzFlash.com