09/08/2026
"Manhattan 2001" was completed in December 2001, utilizing only HDCAM footage shot across New York City between September and December of that year; all processes—including uncompressed digitization, editing, and final output—were handled in-house. This HDCAM footage is dedicated to the memory of 9/11 and to the indomitable spirit of the people of New York.
In anticipation of the 25th anniversary, we have posted this updated version of the footage to Facebook and YouTube.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/0BVTeJoD2No
The YouTube description section includes details such as production notes for the 25th anniversary written by the director, Andreas Timmer, Post‑Production Director (Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia University)
Manhattan 2001 - Production Note
Manhattan 2001 was recorded in HDCAM high definition at a time when the format represented the cutting edge of digital cinematography. The equipment was capable of capturing an extraordinary level of detail, allowing the camera to register not only the large-scale destruction of Lower Manhattan but also small inscriptions, handwritten messages, photographs, and traces embedded in the dust.
The production generated many hours of footage with the intention of developing a longer documentary. At the time, however, the technical demands of working with high-definition material were considerable. The production relied on two-terabyte hard drives, an enormous storage capacity for the period, while even relatively simple editing operations could take hours to complete. Several edits were programmed before the production team could leave the computer to process them.
The approximately eight-minute Manhattan 2001 is the completed result of that larger project. Much of the original footage remains outside the finished film. The material offers an unusually detailed visual record of New York in the immediate aftermath of September 11 and preserves moments, locations, and human encounters that were documented with equipment rarely being used at comparable quality at the time.
The larger documentary project remains unfinished. The surviving footage, however, constitutes an important archival and artistic record of a city confronting an unprecedented rupture and beginning the long process of recovery.
Andreas Timmer, Author
This video was originally digitized, edited and exported in uncompressed 1080i high definition. In 2001, we became the first company in New York to use this cutting-edge high quality technology for video documentation.
Masa Honge, Producer/ Cinematographer
(NYU Tisch School ITP, Class of 2001)
The HDCAM filler "Manhattan 2001" is dedicated to the remembrance o...
