On the morning of Tuesday 11 September 1973, two jets launched a deadly attack on the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in the heart of Santiago, Chile. A military coup led by Augusto Pinochet ousted the presidency of Salvador Allende, the world's first democratically-elected Marxist head of state.
Using archive footage and interviews with supporters of both Allende and Pinochet, this gripping documentary pieces together the dramatic events of the day that ultimately resulted in the death or disappearance of over three thousand people.
Director Interview: Nicholas White
BBC Four: Why did you concentrate on the single day rather than exploring the coup in a wider context?
Nicholas White: Using the 9/11 connection in the title imposed that on us in a way but in filmmaking terms I think it's useful to have your perspective narrowed. Television does dramatic stories with atmosphere and characters very well and that's something you can do with an event that took only 12 hours. I really enjoyed concentrating on a relatively small amount of time but eking as much out of it as possible.
BBC Four: But there's no mention in the film of broader issues like the CIA's involvement in the coup...
NW: I couldn't come out and say the Americans were heavily involved in 11 September in Chile because there's very little evidence that they were.
The CIA involvement in Chile famously took place in the three months after Allende was elected but before he officially became president. Kissinger and Nixon banged their heads together thinking, "How can we stop this guy taking over?" The hope was that the CIA and their local operatives in Chile would bring about some kind of military coup. But the opposite happened, people rallied around Allende and the Americans got their fingers burnt. During the three years of Allende's administration the American involvement was on a much more economic level - preventing Chile from getting international loans, getting Americans to withdraw their investment - which all had a huge impact. With 11 September itself, it's clear the Americans knew something was going to happen but they didn't know what it was and they didn't know who was going to be in charge. They had no real idea who Pinochet was. So tying them to events on the actual day is very difficult although it's certainly legitimate to say they helped destabilise the country in the previous three years.
BBC Four: I was quite shocked by the interview with Federico Willoughby, the man in charge of Pinochet's propaganda for the coup.
NW: This was the man who became Pinochet and the junta's main spokesman so I really expected him to be quite evasive but it was an extraordinary interview. He was extremely pleasant with us, but then you listen back to what he said and it's truly chilling. This wasn't a man who pulled any triggers and he's never been implicated in any human rights abuses. But he still walks into restaurants in Chile and people walk out because he's linked in the public mind with the Pinochet regime.
BBC Four: In contrast, the interviews with Allende's family and supporters are incredibly moving...
NW: It is still very emotional for them, especially those who were involved in Allende's three-year administration. When it was extinguished so quickly it was a huge blow. A lot of those people gathered at La Moneda on the day of the coup and tried to protect Allende and what they had worked for. Afterwards many of them never saw Chile again until they returned 10 or 15 years later. One tends to shy away from showing lots of tears on television but there were a lot of tears in the interviews. It is extraordinary to talk to people who were part of such momentous events. These are the people who were on the spot for whom it meant everything.
BBC Four: Finally, what a great soundtrack! It's great to watch a historical documentary with such good music...
NW: I like to mix music from the time and more contemporary stuff. I actually put together a compilation tape before we shot anything to kind of inspire me and we ended up using most of it - Nick Drake is in there, Cat Stevens, John Martyn, The Small Faces.
BBC Four: Did you take that tape with you to Chile?
NW: I did. I remember driving through late-night Santiago in Chile listening to Radiohead which must be where I got the idea to use that in the film.
