Using cinema verite footage, interviews and archival photographs, we follow several characters through a series of events reuniting them with each other after the closing of the site. Through their stories we present a portrait of the city within a city that was Ground Zero, and examine how an extremely diverse group of people transcended politics and culture in an effort to heal their city and themselves.

9/12: From Chaos to Community — a 60-minute character-driven documentary — is a vibrant, moving, sometimes funny, sometimes painful portrayal of hope and healing in the wake of disaster.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers from all walks of life felt compelled to overcome their sense of powerlessness by volunteering to help out in the recovery effort.

They brought in supplies, set up relief stations, and for ten months fed and cared for the recovery workers. Many deep and unexpected — even unlikely — relationships developed out of this.

Finally the spotlight is being turned where it belongs: on the everyday heroes who worked side by side with emergency responders and whose loving support and companionship helped ease their pain. — Kathleen Tierney, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Sociology & institute of Behavioral Science; Director, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado

Having witnessed part of that effort myself, I am especially grateful to the filmmakers for capturing so poignantly and accurately the shared feelings of awe, camaraderie, loss, and love that brought everyday people together in our city’s greatest time of need.
— Steve Buscemi, Actor; Former New York City Firefighter

I have not been more surprised and provoked into reflection by any other 9/11 homage. We have all had the carnage and the sacrificial heroism of 9/11 burned into our collective memories. But what this movie shows us, on a disarmingly delicate and human scale, is something we talk about in disaster mental health but don’t really understand: the way "social support" was manifested after 9/11 under extreme conditions, in an ordinary way, and why.
— Randall D. Marshall MD, Director of Trauma Studies and Resilience, New York State Psychiatric Institute

… a poem to a group of everyday New Yorkers who discover in themselves a quiet greatness born from the darkness of 9/11. — Davis Guggenheim, Director, "An Inconvenient Truth"

… a loving, honest story about generous, matter-of-fact New Yorkers who rolled up their sleeves and helped heal the city — totally outside the limelight. They didn’t do it for glory, they did it for us. It’s a very moving tribute.
— Tom Healy, President, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council