9/11 Kids is a 2020 Canadian documentary directed by Elizabeth St. Philip. It revisits the sixteen children who sat with President George W. Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001, as he was informed that America was under attack. Then just 6 or 7 years old, these students at Emma E. Booker Elementary were part of a photo op for Bush’s No Child Left Behind initiative. As the children read The Pet Goat, history changed around them—marking the end of innocence and the beginning of a new American reality.

Seventeen years later, those kids—now young adults—share how 9/11 shaped their lives. Some have thrived, others struggled, all came of age in a world defined by war, surveillance, social media, and rising inequality. The film explores their stories, dreams, and resilience, offering a deeply personal lens on a generation growing up in the long shadow of that day.

9/11 Kids premiered at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, airing on CBC Television during the network’s Hot Docs at Home series. It received the Rogers Audience Award alongside four other top Canadian films and won the 2021 Donald Brittain Award for Best Social or Political Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards.