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Interview with Ken Loach about the 11’ 09” 01 - SEPTEMBER 11 project
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Where were you on September 11 2001? What did you feel when you learnt about these events?
- I was at my mother’s house in the Midlands. I was astounded by the audacity and horror of the attack, but, in retrospect, some such attack has been inevitable.
You are a very busy film-director. Yet you did not hesitate to answer this invitation: joining in a collective work based around the September 11 events in New York by making one of the 11 shorts. Why?
- The interpretation of these events has been dominated by a mass media which is largely subservient to and manipulated by politicians and the interests they represent - as you would expect. Other voices are necessary.
Had you thought of expressing yourself around the events of September 11 before being asked to participate in "11’09’’01"?
- Not directly.
What events or personal experiences did you want to bring to light through your short? What personal echo to the events of September 11?
- I’d rather let the film speak for itself.
How did the idea of your film come to you? Immediately or after long consideration?
- After an unrelated conversation with a Chilean friend.
Has the time constraint of 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame, imposed on every short, caused difficulties when constructing your story. How did you deal with it?
- Television tends to impose similar disciplines!
How did the actors and the technicians make and experience their contributions to the film? How did the shooting progress?
- I think it was quite a painful, but necessary, experience for the principal performer.
Each director has built up his or her film without having the slightest inkling of what the others would do. Has this been a problem for you? How have you experienced or "lived" this collective work?
- Balancing the contributions is for the producers - I’m glad to say!
In your view, can the film bring new perspectives to a reflection on our contemporary world? Can cinema function as an instrument for peace?
- Because cinema is more reflective than journalism, whether print or broadcasting, I think it can make a more lasting communication. Cinema can only contribute to peaceful outcomes as part of a wider movement.
Do you think that the events of September 11 will influence your future films?
- Not particularly. It was one event in a continuing struggle that was already known.
Do you think there exists a 'before' and an 'after' September 11, such events constituting a rupture in contemporary history?
- No. This was a symbolic attack on the power represented by the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Opposition to that power is articulated in many ways. The U.S. government cannot act in the way it has done for many years without collecting enemies from all parts of the world.
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