|
|
 |
THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER is the dramatic story of the 2004 Chechen terrorist attack and three-day siege of a school in southern Russia. When it was over, 331 people lay dead — 176 of them children.
The film is narrated by Julia Roberts. She introduces audiences to Beslan, a small, rural city of nearly 35,000 people situated at the foot of Russia's beautiful Caucasus mountains, a thousand miles from Moscow. The journey through THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER begins with 16-year-old Dariya Fadeeva. She's proud of her town and is a happy, normal, teenage girl. But the events of those three September days change her life forever.
Throughout Russia, September 1st is an annual celebration marking the opening day of school. In Beslan, that celebration turned into a nightmare when some 30 heavily armed Chechen terrorists attacked School Number One. Nearly 1,200 teachers, parents and children were immediately taken hostage. Dariya Fadeeva's younger sister was one of them.
This is the story of today's "new world order." In Beslan, a line was crossed, making children the targets of hate in this new borderless war of terror. THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER tells the story of ordinary people who found themselves at the gates of hell. This is the inside story of an unspeakable tragedy told by those who survived it.
While working in Beslan, the filmmakers of THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER were given a remarkable tape discovered by teenagers in the rubble of the school after the siege. A video camera brought to school that September morning by a proud Beslan parent found its way into the hands of the terrorists. The tape reveals never-before-seen details of the drama unfolding inside the besieged school. The video lets us see, first hand, the absolute horror of the takeover, including a pile of bodies dumped out of a classroom window after having been shot by the terrorists on the first day. We witness the only face-to-face negotiations during the siege. In a dramatic breakthrough, a group of mothers is allowed to walk out of the school with their nursing babies — in some cases forced to leave older children behind.
Two of Russia's elite Spetznaz troops at the school tell us their story. Both served in Chechyna and both participated in the taking back of Beslan School Number One. It's a rare interview with a captain and one his key soldiers — a sniper.
The chilling climax of THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER is the moment when everything goes horribly wrong. An explosion in the school marks the beginning of the end. A ferocious gun battle erupts and after a ten-hour fight, the depths of this tragedy become clear. Hundreds are killed, 176 are children, and all but one of the terrorists are dead. Local outrage toward the Kremlin over the lack of answers to their many questions permeates the community. And Shamil Basayev, the Chechen terrorist leader and alleged mastermind behind the tragedy, says he is preparing to strike again.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The Beslan Teacher's Committee
A Web site created by teachers and parents of children who were held hostage in Beslan.
International Foundation For Terror Act Victims
Find out how to help victims of the Beslan school crisis.
View photo album.
|
© 2005 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved.
|
