On September 11, 2001, 3,051 children ages 18 and under lost a parent during the coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. Those parents were in the airplanes that were turned into weapons, in the World Trade Center, and in the Pentagon. Some of their children now want to tell a story of hope through a documentary called We Go Higher.
Delaney Colaio, who was just shy of her third birthday when her father and two uncles died in the World Trade Center, is the film’s co-writer and co-director. This May, after the terrorist attack at a concert in Manchester, England, she wrote an essay that said, “Don’t get hijacked by fear, hatred and ignorance. That’s what really killed the men I love.”
The goal of We Go Higher — the first documentary by and about the 9/11 kids — is to allow the kids to tell their stories their way. The film’s website says, “We Go Higher will explore the different routes taken in dealing with loss, both literally and figuratively …”
You can help finance the movie through Indiegogo. As of today, 23% of the $50,000 goal has been raised, with a month left to go. You can also contribute through the website of the nonprofit International Documentary Association. Variety reported that proceeds from the film will benefit Tuesday’s Children, an organization established after 9/11 to help communities impacted by traumatic loss. The movie is expected to be released next year. If you are a 9/11 kid or know one, you can make sure that story is told by contacting the movie’s producers here.
Here are links to my previous 9/11 posts, from oldest to most recent. As some of you may recall, in 2001, I worked across the street from the World Trade Center in what was then called the World Financial Center:
- 2007: September 11 Is Here Again.
- 2008: 9/14/01, Laughing While Crying, The Prodigal Bumpe Returns, and 9/14/01.
- 2009: Three Old Posts and a Little Story
- 2010: Thoughts on 9/11: The Devil Is in the Details
- 2011: “I Thought Everybody Else Was Lost,” 10 Years Later: “Essential Acts of Witness,” and 10 Years Later: The Weak Horse.
- 2012: Links to my previous posts, and a photo.
- 2013: The same links to previous posts and the photo shared in 2012.
- 2014: September 11: The Thirteenth Anniversary
- 2015: Fourteen Years, and Marcy Borders
- 2016: 15 Years After 9/11: The Story of Rick Rescorla