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HBO 9/11 Documentary Telling Nicholas
How do you tell your son that his Mommy is never coming home? "Telling Nicholas," an HBO TV-film that documented tendays in a child's life after the fall of the twin towers, has been nominated for an Emmy Award. As images of falling towers, debris clouds anddisaster recede into the annals of history, award-winning filmmaker JamesRonald Whitney has poignantly captured one moment that seven-year-old Nicholas Lanza will never forget -- the moment of realization when he discovered that his mother was never coming home from her job at Fiduciary Trust on the 97th floor of Tower Two at The World Trade Center.
Although Whitney focuses on one American family, like so many, Nicholas' grandmother simply blamed all Muslims for the loss of her daughter."I want them all tortured," she explained, while sitting on her front porch."Their hair plucked out, their fingernails ripped off one by one ... men women and children, all of them." That was until little Nicholas befriended Thanbir Ahmed, a 16-year-old Muslim boy whose father was killed in the attack, explains James Ronald Whitney, whose premiere film "Just Melvin," won numerous awards at film festivals both nationally and internationally. "Ahmed becamepart of my film crew, and ultimately, these two American families -- one Christian, the other Muslim -- walked hand in hand to the memorial of Nicholas's 36-year-old mother, Michele Lanza."
Unlike the other nominated films which have several contributors sharing the category nomination, James Ronald Whitney single-handedly produced, wrote, directed, edited and even composed the theme song to his film. Whitney's gripping narrative moves the documentary rapidly from scene to heart-wrenching scene, as psychotherapist Dr.Gilda Carle compassionately guides Nicholas' family throughout the telling ordeal.
For more about "Telling Nicholas," visit the website at
www.TellingNicholas.com.
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