February 10, 2005  German culture and media critic Krystian Woznicki, writing about archeology in times of globalization, reviews After 9/11 in the Winter 2004 issue of Springerin magazine. A collaboration with the Watson Institute's InfoTechWarPeace Project and Udris Productions, the hour-long film tracks the emergence of an Age of InfoTerror, from the terrorist attack of September 2001 to the information war leading up to the Iraq War.

Having viewed the After 9/11 documentary at the Heinrich Boell Stiftung in Berlin on October 14, 2004, Woznicki comments on the film's aesthetic value. He notes that it is not so much the images themselves, most of them are well-known, but their distorted, wobbly presentation in low pixilation that provides added meaning. "One gets the impression that archeologists of the distant future browsed digital archives and, using their mouse, attempted to make the past speak again," writes Woznicki. This perspective, he argues, makes it possible for viewers to distance themselves from the current infosphere thus allowing them a fuller appreciation of the commentary provided by intellectuals, military personnel, and scientists featured in After 9/11. As such, the film manages to be more than a documentary—it becomes an anti-simulation and provokes a kind of anti-reality to that presented by mainstream media.

Highlighted in the documentary are a broad range of scholars and journalists, artists and writers, governmental and military officials, who have participated in InfoTechWarPeace symposia, public forums, and art exhibitions during the last two years. Combining critical dialogue, conceptual analysis, and a montage of multimedia After 9/11 anticipates many of the recent revelations about the darker side of the war against terror, and, in a reflective postscript, it provides a positive vision for moving America beyond 9/11.

For background materials about After9/11, to buy your own copy, or find out about future screenings in your area, go to the film website. For more information about InfoTechWarPeace, visit the project's award-winning website or contact Annick Wibben at Annick_Wibben@brown.edu or by phone at 401.863.3473.