LI doctor produces film of 9/11 stories

After hearing countless stories from some of the more than 6,000 9/11 first responders who have been treated at a Stony Brook program, Dr. Benjamin Luft had an idea: He'd put their accounts on film.

Luft, medical director of Stony Brook's WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, is producing "9/11: An American Requiem," a 105-minute film of interviews with first responders. The film is part of a larger oral history project, "Remembering 9/11," in which more than 150 9/11 first responders have been interviewed and videotaped.

"In our society people tend to think of things in black and white, yes and no," said Luft, the film's executive producer. "But these stories have a lot of complexities and complications in them and I think it's important for us to understand that."

One participant in the film is Rafael Orozco, a retired NYPD detective who worked in community affairs for the Brooklyn North Precinct.

"All of a sudden you could hear the officers who were trapped in the building calling for help," said Orozco. "It was one of the most helpless moments I've ever experienced in my entire life because, you know, unless I wore a Superman suit there was no way I was going to take off 110 stories of debris."

Luft, who has no filmmaking experience, said that "Sometimes not to have a tremendous amount of baggage can be helpful. Ultimately it's the story, not the way the film was made, that's really important."

The film, which will premiere Sunday at 3 p.m. at the 16th Stony Brook Film Festival, features interviews with 18 first responders.

"I did a lot of reflecting. I wanted to know why I'm here," said Tyree Bacon, a first responder who is a senior court officer and EMT. He describes his battle with survivor's guilt while being videotaped for the oral history project. Bacon, from Islip, has dealt with his condition by finding a sense of purpose in his three children, all of whom were born after 9/11, he said in a previous interview with Newsday.

Luft said he plans to later release a book with 33 narratives from first responders, as a companion piece to the movie.

"I hope people will see the sense of altruism and selflessness that these people demonstrated by going down to Ground Zero," Luft said. "There's an implicit social contract that we, as a society, have to make sure these people aren't left behind and receive the care they deserve."