Three Days In September

While attention is properly focused on the premiere and general release of the movie United 93, the Tribeca Film Festival is also hosting the premiere of another movie that exists because of the utter inhumanity perpetrated by Islamic terrorists.

Three Days in September recounts the Beslan school massacre. More than 1,200 men, women, and children were taken hostage, and more than 336 were murdered by the terrorists who rigged explosives throughout the building where they were being kept.

"Three Days in September" chronicles the subsequent 54 horrific hours, through the eyes of survivors and their families, soldiers and politicians. The documentary uses news clips as well as interviews with survivors and their relatives who stood outside the school building.

The film also includes footage taken by the terrorists with the handheld camera confiscated from a parent. That film was found in the rubble days after the tragedy.

The documentary opens today at the Tribeca Film Festival and will continue on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. It will air on Showtime late this month.

Vele, 43, who has worked in television journalism for two decades, including at CNN and CBS, hopes the film will give Americans pause to consider events on other continents.

"I think we have to be students of the world to better understand our surroundings," he said. "It will help our country in dealing with international situations."

However, this review suggests that while you get the general gist of the terrorist attack at Beslan School Number One, if the moviemakers spent just a little more time delving into the politics and fallout, the movie could have been far more impressive and insightful.