You probably think you’ve seen every angle of the September 11 attacks. Most of us have. We’ve seen the news reels and the grainy cell phone clips from late-morning survivors. But the footage shot by Jules and Gedeon Naudet 9/11 feels different. It’s raw. It’s claustrophobic. Honestly, it’s the only reason we have a clear record of how that morning actually started.
The Naudet brothers weren't there to cover a terrorist attack. They were two French filmmakers trying to make a coming-of-age movie about a "probie"—a rookie firefighter named Tony Benetatos. They spent months at the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firehouse in Lower Manhattan. They were just looking for a good story about a kid learning the ropes.
Then the world broke.
The Gas Leak That Changed Everything
It was a Tuesday morning. Jules Naudet was out on a routine call with Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer. They were at the corner of Church and Lispenard Streets, just checking on a reported gas leak from a storm drain. It was mundane work.
Then came the roar.
Jules heard the engines and swung his Sony DSR-PD150 camera upward just as American Airlines Flight 11 screamed overhead. He caught it. He’s one of only three people in the world known to have filmed the first plane hitting the North Tower. While the rest of the world was still waking up or pouring coffee, Jules was already running toward the smoke.
He followed Chief Pfeifer directly into the North Tower lobby. Think about that. Most people were running away, but Jules stayed glued to the firefighters. He filmed the command post being set up. He captured the sound of the elevators failing and the horrific noise of "thumps" hitting the lobby roof—noises the firefighters eventually realized were people jumping from the upper floors.
Gedeon Naudet: The View from the Streets
While Jules was inside the belly of the beast, his brother Gedeon was back at the firehouse. He eventually grabbed his gear and headed toward the towers, terrified his brother was dead. Gedeon’s footage is a different kind of haunting. It shows the confusion of the New York streets.
He actually captured United Airlines Flight 175 hitting the South Tower from a street-level perspective. While Jules was seeing the institutional response of the FDNY, Gedeon was seeing the human collapse. People were wandering in shock. The sky was turning into a blizzard of paper and ash.
He eventually got separated from the crews and spent hours searching for Jules. At one point, Gedeon helped an FBI agent carry a civilian who had been overcome by the dust. He ended up in a deli just trying to breathe.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Naudet Footage
There’s a common misconception that the Naudet brothers were "ambulance chasers" or looking for gore. It’s actually the opposite. If you watch the full documentary, you'll notice something striking: they don't show the bodies.
Jules later called this "auto-censorship." He saw things that would break most people—people on fire, the aftermath of the jumpers—but he chose to point the camera away. He felt that filming those moments was a violation of the victims' dignity.
"There was some kind of respect that should be shown in death," Jules said later.
They edited 180 hours of footage down to a two-hour film. They focused on the brotherhood. They focused on Tony the probie, who everyone feared was lost, but who eventually walked back into the firehouse covered in gray soot.
The Legacy of the Sony DSR-PD150
The camera Jules used that day isn't sitting in a closet. It’s in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It’s a literal artifact of the 21st century.
Their work, simply titled 9/11, aired on CBS in March 2002. Nearly 40 million people watched it. It wasn't just "content." It was a national mourning session. It gave people a way to process the sheer scale of the heroism displayed by the FDNY.
Since then, the Naudets haven't stopped documenting tragedy and resilience. They did a film on the 2015 Paris attacks (November 13) and another on the Notre Dame fire. They seem to have a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time—or maybe the right place at the worst time.
How to Find the Authentic Footage
If you’re looking to watch the Naudet footage today, you have to be careful. There are plenty of "tribute" videos on YouTube that chop up their work without context.
- Seek out the 2002 documentary "9/11": This is the definitive version sanctioned by the brothers and the FDNY.
- Visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum: They have dedicated sections that explain the Naudets' role in the day's record.
- Watch the 20th Anniversary updates: In 2021, the brothers released updated interviews reflecting on two decades of perspective.
The story of Jules and Gedeon Naudet 9/11 isn't just about a lucky shot of a plane crash. It’s about two guys who stayed when they should have run. They didn't just film a tragedy; they filmed the people who went into the fire so others could get out.
If you want to understand the human side of that day beyond the political talking points, start with their footage. It’s the closest thing we have to a time capsule of the morning the world changed.
Next Steps for Research:
Check the official 9/11 Memorial & Museum digital archives for the Naudet brothers' oral histories. These interviews provide much more granular detail about their internal thoughts during the collapse of the South Tower, which occurred while Jules was still inside the North Tower lobby. It is the best way to understand the technical challenges they faced, like using the camera’s floodlight to help firefighters navigate the pitch-black dust clouds.