‘The Outsider’ Doc Trailer – The Story of a 9/11 Photography Expert
by Alex Billington
July 12, 2021
Source: YouTube
“What was the meaning of that event, is really the important question…” An official trailer has debuted for a provocative and damning documentary film titled The Outsider. This hasn’t played at any festivals and it seems many Americans are afraid of what it confronts. Michael Shulan was a struggling novelist & owner of a storefront in NYC. The attacks on the World Trade Center changed his life forever. He turned his space into a famous photo exhibit called “Here in New York: A Democracy of Photographs.” He became known as one of the world’s leading experts on 9/11 photography. Then, the lifelong outsider was invited to be part of something big. Shulan was named the Creative Director of the National 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero. This is the story of his dream job and how it turned against him. His nemesis is Alice Greenwald, the Museum’s director – who hires him, and then turns the museum’s open philosophy into a place that looks to put to rest the unanswered questions of 9/11. The filmmakers then wonder: “If you accept the fortune-cookie answer that the set out to attack our ‘way of life’ and our ‘freedoms as American’s’ – then how can you justify the Memorial and Museum that today stands on the site of [the former WTC]?” It seems terrifically fascinating.
Official trailer for Pamela Yoder & Steven Rosenbaum’s doc The Outsider, from Abramorama’s YouTube:
Michael Shulan was once a struggling novelist who owned a storefront space down in NYC’s trendy Soho neighborhood. The attacks on the World Trade Center changed his life forever. He & three friends turned his Spring Street space into a now-famous crowdsourced photo exhibit called “Here Is New York.” For five years, he was known as the world’s leading expert on 9/11 photography. Then, the lifelong outsider was invited to be part of something big. Shulan was named the Creative Director of the National 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero. This is the story of his dream job and how it turned against him. His vision of an open, inclusive, participatory place for America to engage in the painful, personal story of 9/11 goes wrong. His role as creative leader turns into a daily battle to keep his vision alive. The Outsider is co-directed by filmmakers Pamela Yoder & Steven Rosenbaum, both making their directorial debut with this doc. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere, as far as we know. Abramorama will release The Outsider doc in “virtual cinemas” nationwide starting August 20th, 2021. For more info, visit the film’s official website.
