USA: New documentary tells the story of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald after 9/11

Record ID: 841840

  • Title: USA: New documentary tells the story of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald after 9/11
  • Date: 9th September 2013
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 03, 2013) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIELLE GARDNER, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "It's really a September 11th story because it's also an incredible narrative and an incredible saga. And I really try to make the film experiential. So when you sit down from beginning and you get up at the end you feel like you've been through this journey. And hopefully it's an unforgettable one and something you hadn't seen before."
  • Embargoed: 24th September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime,Business,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA74APBUPBO98JOQ4D0C1KVDFH7
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: With the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks looming, filmmaker and a sister of one of the victims is telling the story of Cantor Fitzgerald.
    The financial services firm was housed on the top five floors of the first of the twin towers to be struck after it was hijacked in 2001. The company lost 658 of nearly 1,000 local employees in the attack.
    Gardner's brother Doug worked for the firm on the 105th floor.
    "I would say the film was both therapeutic and very painful. I think it gave me a lot of purpose. It let me explore and learn about September 11th, which I think I really needed. Which I couldn't have done without being in the guides of a filmmaker. I think at the time I was completely devastated and it definitely helped me get up," she told Reuters.
    Two passenger jets brought down the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Center, another hit the Pentagon outside Washington and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania when passengers aboard that flight fought back against the hijackers.
    Gardner said her film is both a narrative and a saga.
    "I really try to make the film experiential. So when you sit down from beginning and you get up at the end you feel like you've been through this journey. And hopefully it's an unforgettable one and something you hadn't seen before," she explained.
    At the center of the film is Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, who quickly became one of the most recognized faces from the tragedy.
    "The most difficult thing was going back. Putting myself back into that experience. Talking about it, talking about it with Danielle, which was, you know, much more passionate, much more emotional then it would be because I knew she was not a disconnected director. She was feeling everything I was feeling literally because she felt it," said Lutnick who watched the towers fall from the street after dropping off his son at his first day of school.
    Shortly after the attacks Lutnick was trashed in the media for not taking care of the families of those of perished. In the film, news reports show how he went from being adored to loathed.
    "Ultimately the communities, the business and the families, come together so strongly. But at first it was just completely separated and totally incendiary. Because there is so much pain. And pain turns into anger, turns into misdirected anger. And lack of communication created a really, almost an inexplicable situation," she Gardner.
    Later, Lutnick, who is known for his autocratic management style, was highlighted for his philanthropic efforts.
    "I'm still a tough businessman and I'm sure everyone will still say that. But I think it's crystal clear that people know that we care about human beings in a way that's much bigger than anybody would have ever expected," Lutnick told Reuters.
    The company paid health insurance for all the victims' families for 10 years and gave 25% of the firm's profits for five years.
    The neighborhood, once dominated by bankers who fled after the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange, is now attracting high-profile media companies. Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, will move into One World Trade Center when it opens in late 2014 or early 2015. However, Lutnick said returning to the site would be too painful.
    "My new employees probably wouldn't mind, but for me that would be just too much emotion, for me. So I think downtown I don't have a problem with, but how about on the other side of downtown sounds better for me."
    Gardner took great care in making the film and shrived to honor not only her brother but all the civilians lost on September 11th.
    "We both lost our brothers, that's not ever going to be ok. It's devastating and horrifying and you feel like anything you do on September 11th is always done in honor of them, and always done with that mindset. So there is a really high standard for this."
    2,983 people were killed at the three sites on September 11th.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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