HBO, Lee chronicle New York since 9/11

HBO is working with director Spike Lee on a multi-part documentary that focuses on the city of New York over the 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Spike Lee

NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ is described as an epic chronicle of life, loss and survival in the city, offering an unprecedented, sweeping portrait of New Yorkers as they rebuild and rebound from adversity, including the ongoing pandemic.

Featuring first-hand accounts from NYC citizens from all walks of life, the documentary series will debut later this year on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max in commemoration of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It marks the latest collaboration between Lee and the WarnerMedia-owned premium cablenet, which has previously helped finance the director’s films 4 Little Girls, When The Levees Broke and, most recently, David Byrne’s American Utopia concert film.

The project is an HBO Documentary Films production in association with 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks.

It is directed and produced by Lee and edited by Barry Alexander Brown and Adam Gough. Lee is represented by ICM Partners and attorneys Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. ICM Partners is representing international sales.

“With more than 200 interviews, we dig deep into what makes NYC the greatest city on this God’s earth and also the diverse citizens who make it so. Over centuries, pundits and straight haters have proclaimed NYC was dead and stinkin’, only to be proved wrong,” said Lee.

Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham, co-heads of HBO Documentary Films, said in a joint statement: “From documenting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to the 9/11 attack on New York City and beyond, we treasure Spike’s singular capacity to chronicle and pay tribute to the human toll of these historic events while bearing profound witness to the strength and resiliency of the human spirit.”