February 14, 2002

ROBERT DE NIRO WILL HOST "9/11,"
UNIQUE STORY OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK, SUNDAY, MARCH 10 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

CBS Special Presentation Features Never-Before-Broadcast Video from

Filmmakers Gedeon and Jules Naudet, Who Were at Ground Zero on Sept. 11

Robert De Niro will host "9/11," the exclusive insider's account of the World Trade Center attack from French filmmakers Gedeon and Jules Naudet. The eyewitness story, featuring extraordinary video that has never been broadcast, will be seen in a two-hour CBS Special Presentation, Sunday, March 10 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

De Niro, who has won two Oscars and is a preeminent actor, director and producer living in New York City, is a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Center, which is located just a few city blocks from Ground Zero.

"Robert De Niro is a quintessential New Yorker who has been instrumental in building up the TriBeCa neighborhood, in the very area of the city that was devastated by the September 11 attacks," said Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter, one of the producers of the film, who introduced De Niro to the project. "He has been an active spokesman for TriBeCa, and for all New Yorkers, for more than three decades."

The presentation of "9/11" will help support the fund-raising efforts of the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund for the benefit of firefighters' families, including contributions from the Naudet brothers and CBS. The broadcast of "9/11" will include information about how viewers can also support the fund.

On Sept. 11, the Naudets were in lower Manhattan taping a documentary on the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firefighters when Jules suddenly heard a roar from above and turned his camera upward. In doing so, he captured the only known video of the first plane striking the World Trade Center.

Cameras still rolling, Jules followed the firefighters into the heart of what would soon be known as Ground Zero. Gedeon also rushed to the scene with members of Ladder 1. Over the next several hours, the brothers captured extraordinary video unlike any broadcast since, including 45 minutes of footage from inside the North Tower as the rescue effort was underway and dramatic scenes of escape in the minutes before the building collapsed.

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CBS News' Susan Zirinsky is executive producer of the CBS broadcast, along with Gedeon and Jules Naudet, Ladder 1 firefighter James Hanlon and CBS News' Hal Gessner and Tom Forman, who are executive editor and senior producer, respectively. Betsy West, Senior Vice President, CBS News, is executive-in-charge.

Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter and the magazine's Editor of Creative Development David Friend will also serve as executive producers of the broadcast. Vanity Fair ran an exclusive interview with the Naudet brothers in the magazine's current issue. The project was brought to CBS by Carter and the William Morris Agency's President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Wiatt and Head of International Development Ben Silverman, who were instrumental in its development.

Robert De Niro has been honored with virtually every award that can be accorded a film actor, including Oscars for Best Actor ("Raging Bull," 1980) and Best Supporting Actor ("The Godfather: Part II," 1974). Other major acting awards were for his landmark films "Mean Streets" and "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973), "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Goodfellas" and "Awakenings" (1990) -- and the Career Award of the Venice Film Festival in 1993.

Gedeon and Jules Naudet, 31 and 28, respectively, moved to New York City from Paris in 1989. After attending New York University Film School, the brothers made their first feature, Hope, Gloves and Redemption, about young boxers in Spanish Harlem, which took grand jury honors in 2000 at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. In May 2001, the New York City Fire Department offered them access to film Duane Street's Engine 7, Ladder 1. (Ladder 1 is one of the New York's oldest fire companies, founded in 1772).

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Press Contacts: Gil Schwartz 212/975-2121 gdschwartz@cbs.com

Dana McClintock 212/975-1077 dlmcclintock@cbs.com