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Nerves Of Iron
************************************************** *************
This message is reprinted under the Fair Use
Doctrine of International Copyright Law:
************************************************** *************
FROM: THE MONTREAL GAZETTE NEWSPAPER
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005 - ON PAGE D6
================================================== ===========
NERVES OF IRON
NEW TV DOCUMENTARY Captures Fearlessness And Friendly Rivalry Of Mohawk And
Newfoundland Ironworkers Rebuilding The Third Tower To Fall At The World Trade
Centre On 9/11
ALEX STRACHAN
CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
================================================== ===========
The winds up there are fearsome, the air thin, the ground far, far away.
The two teams of ironworkers - Mohawks from the Kahnawake Reserve and
Newfoundlanders, raised on generations of climbing through the rigging of tall
ships
in rough Atlantic seas - don't look down, however. They have a job to do -
rebuild a section of the World Trade Centre, and restore a small portion of
glory
to New York City's skyline.
Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker Jerry Thompson knew the story of
iron-working Mohawks was compelling subject matter, but worried it was already
too
well known. But the closer he looked at this particular job, the more he
realized there were aspects of the story yet to be told.
The fact that the Twin Towers weren't the only skyscrapers to fall in the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, for example. The fact that sea-going
Newfoundlanders are also "slamming iron", as it's called, on New York City's
skyline, 50
storeys above the ground. The fact that the Mohawks and Newfoundlanders have a
good-natured but spirited rivalry, to see who can outdo the other and be first
to reach the clouds.
And so, quelling his nerves, his fear of heights and lingering doubts about
the logistical practicality of shooting a documentary 520 feet above the ground
with no safety net, Thompson set about making his film, Slammin' Iron:
Rebuilding the World Trade Centre, alongside producer Leigh Badgley.
Six months and 25 shooting days later, Thompson was a changed man.
"They're not just tough guys," Thompson said. "You realize after you spend
time with them that there's this real humanity to them. There's a sense of
honour and pride --- and sadness and caring too. And that did surprise me, in a
way. I didn't expect guys to open up as much as they did. They're definitely
tough guys, there's no doubt about that, but when we saw the way that they
reacted
to 9/11, we could see that there was this whole other side to them that was
really quite interesting. It was not just a one note song."
To a man, every ironworker Thompson encountered had been involved in the
clean-up at Ground Zero after 9/11, and were involved in rebuilding No. 7 World
Trade Centre, occasionally referred to as Tower 7, the third tower to fall in
the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Few people realize there was a third building that fell at 5:30 that
afternoon in 2001; fewer still realize that it has since been rebuilt.
"Oddly enough," Thompson recalled, "almost nobody else was covering that
story."
Filming required a level of physical fitness that verged on extreme. Steel
cage elevators - so-called "man hoists" - didn't go to the top of the building;
the upper construction decks, where all the filmmaking action was, were not
physically connected to the building. The cameramen had to climb the last 38
feet on hand-over-hand ladders, with their gear strapped to their backs.
"You can actually feel the building sway in the wind," Thompson recalled.
"You approach the outside edge of the top floor and you see that there's no
ceiling, no harness, no safety net - just two strands of steel cable about the
size
of your little finger. And you look over the edge and you think, 'OK....' "
Thompson kept his nerve.
"You realize you've made it that far, you're going to be all right. I suppose
if I'd had a different reaction, I couldn't have done the film. I was just
lucky. There's no other word for it. You're either affected by that or you're
not.
Thompson didn't take any stupid chances, and neither did his crew. The more
time he spent up there, however; the more respect he gained for the ironworkers
who take their lives in their hands, day in and day out. A massive iron cross
has been erected on the Kahnawake Reserve, in commemoration of the Mohawk
ironworkers who have lost their lives in Manhattan's crosswinds and at other job
sites throughout the world.
The Mohawk ironworkers and the Newfoundland riggers don't believe there's any
such thing as a fear gene, Thompson said.
"Life magazine has done these stories about whether there's some sort of a
gene, a gift, a sense of balance that's somehow better than the rest of ours.
They all think, nah, that's just a lot of hooey."
The first time Thompson asked that question of veteran Mohawk ironworker Kyle
Beauvais, who appears throughout the film, Beauvais just laughed.
"He said, 'No, it's not true that we have no fear of heights. It's just that
we handle fear better than you do.' I thought, OK, that seems a good way to
summarize it. These guys come on the job, and they've been told about it by
their fathers and their granfathers since they were 5 years. There, must be
something to that. Your sensitivity to the fear drops over time. Their culture
seems
to embrace it. These guys are good at it, and they've stayed with it. But do
Mohawks die any less than other guys in that trade? No, If they fall, they get
hurt, too."
SLAMMIN' IRON: REBUILDING THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE airs tomorrow at 9 p.m. on
the Passionate Eye on CBMT-6
This message is reprinted under the Fair Use
Doctrine of International Copyright Law:
************************************************** *************
FROM: THE MONTREAL GAZETTE NEWSPAPER
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005 - ON PAGE D6
================================================== ===========
NERVES OF IRON
NEW TV DOCUMENTARY Captures Fearlessness And Friendly Rivalry Of Mohawk And
Newfoundland Ironworkers Rebuilding The Third Tower To Fall At The World Trade
Centre On 9/11
ALEX STRACHAN
CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
================================================== ===========
The winds up there are fearsome, the air thin, the ground far, far away.
The two teams of ironworkers - Mohawks from the Kahnawake Reserve and
Newfoundlanders, raised on generations of climbing through the rigging of tall
ships
in rough Atlantic seas - don't look down, however. They have a job to do -
rebuild a section of the World Trade Centre, and restore a small portion of
glory
to New York City's skyline.
Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker Jerry Thompson knew the story of
iron-working Mohawks was compelling subject matter, but worried it was already
too
well known. But the closer he looked at this particular job, the more he
realized there were aspects of the story yet to be told.
The fact that the Twin Towers weren't the only skyscrapers to fall in the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, for example. The fact that sea-going
Newfoundlanders are also "slamming iron", as it's called, on New York City's
skyline, 50
storeys above the ground. The fact that the Mohawks and Newfoundlanders have a
good-natured but spirited rivalry, to see who can outdo the other and be first
to reach the clouds.
And so, quelling his nerves, his fear of heights and lingering doubts about
the logistical practicality of shooting a documentary 520 feet above the ground
with no safety net, Thompson set about making his film, Slammin' Iron:
Rebuilding the World Trade Centre, alongside producer Leigh Badgley.
Six months and 25 shooting days later, Thompson was a changed man.
"They're not just tough guys," Thompson said. "You realize after you spend
time with them that there's this real humanity to them. There's a sense of
honour and pride --- and sadness and caring too. And that did surprise me, in a
way. I didn't expect guys to open up as much as they did. They're definitely
tough guys, there's no doubt about that, but when we saw the way that they
reacted
to 9/11, we could see that there was this whole other side to them that was
really quite interesting. It was not just a one note song."
To a man, every ironworker Thompson encountered had been involved in the
clean-up at Ground Zero after 9/11, and were involved in rebuilding No. 7 World
Trade Centre, occasionally referred to as Tower 7, the third tower to fall in
the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Few people realize there was a third building that fell at 5:30 that
afternoon in 2001; fewer still realize that it has since been rebuilt.
"Oddly enough," Thompson recalled, "almost nobody else was covering that
story."
Filming required a level of physical fitness that verged on extreme. Steel
cage elevators - so-called "man hoists" - didn't go to the top of the building;
the upper construction decks, where all the filmmaking action was, were not
physically connected to the building. The cameramen had to climb the last 38
feet on hand-over-hand ladders, with their gear strapped to their backs.
"You can actually feel the building sway in the wind," Thompson recalled.
"You approach the outside edge of the top floor and you see that there's no
ceiling, no harness, no safety net - just two strands of steel cable about the
size
of your little finger. And you look over the edge and you think, 'OK....' "
Thompson kept his nerve.
"You realize you've made it that far, you're going to be all right. I suppose
if I'd had a different reaction, I couldn't have done the film. I was just
lucky. There's no other word for it. You're either affected by that or you're
not.
Thompson didn't take any stupid chances, and neither did his crew. The more
time he spent up there, however; the more respect he gained for the ironworkers
who take their lives in their hands, day in and day out. A massive iron cross
has been erected on the Kahnawake Reserve, in commemoration of the Mohawk
ironworkers who have lost their lives in Manhattan's crosswinds and at other job
sites throughout the world.
The Mohawk ironworkers and the Newfoundland riggers don't believe there's any
such thing as a fear gene, Thompson said.
"Life magazine has done these stories about whether there's some sort of a
gene, a gift, a sense of balance that's somehow better than the rest of ours.
They all think, nah, that's just a lot of hooey."
The first time Thompson asked that question of veteran Mohawk ironworker Kyle
Beauvais, who appears throughout the film, Beauvais just laughed.
"He said, 'No, it's not true that we have no fear of heights. It's just that
we handle fear better than you do.' I thought, OK, that seems a good way to
summarize it. These guys come on the job, and they've been told about it by
their fathers and their granfathers since they were 5 years. There, must be
something to that. Your sensitivity to the fear drops over time. Their culture
seems
to embrace it. These guys are good at it, and they've stayed with it. But do
Mohawks die any less than other guys in that trade? No, If they fall, they get
hurt, too."
SLAMMIN' IRON: REBUILDING THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE airs tomorrow at 9 p.m. on
the Passionate Eye on CBMT-6
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