Broadcasters Plan Wide-Ranging 9/11 Retrospectives

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, broadcasters and filmmakers are revisiting the tragedy’s immediate human toll, its cultural legacy and the wars that followed. European television documentaries examine the war on terror, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the rise of the Islamic State, alongside firsthand accounts from survivors, rescuers and officials in New York and Washington. A public-radio special traces how Sept. 11 became a National Day of Service intended to preserve the memory of the attacks through civic engagement. Other programming considers how movies have tried to interpret 9/11, while the documentary “IX XI” presents often-surreal and darkly humorous personal stories from 12 New Yorkers, rejecting what its director calls the political and sanctimonious co-opting of the event.