Documentary Tells Story of Survivor Tree, Memorial Grove
Award-winning filmmaker Scott Elliott has documented the design and landscape of the 9/11 Memorial plaza for the last five years. On Thursday, he published a piece in The New York Times highlighting his new feature-length documentary, “The Trees,” which tells the story of the 400 white oak trees on the Memorial.
One tree stands out to Elliott in particular: the Survivor Tree. The callery pear tree was severely damaged after 9/11, but was rehabilitated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and brought back to the World Trade Center site.
“It was the last living thing to come out of the rubble of ground zero — a charred stump that, to an untrained eye, looked dead,” Elliott wrote.
Elliott’s short film about the Survivor Tree, titled “The Tree That Will Not Be Broken” is one of several that comprise the documentary. Today, the Survivor Tree represents the resiliency of our nation after 9/11.
“The Trees” documentary is expected to be completed in summer 2015. Elliott describes it as “a visual meditation on how we memorialize and remember, on seasonal change and the possibility of rebirth.”
By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate
The dogged determination of canines in the days and months after 9/11 cannot be understated. Hundreds of search and rescue dogs mobilized from across the country, working 12-hour shifts to search for survivors and recover victims.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum received a 2014 Award of Merit from the Museum Association of New York earlier this month.