Diverted | |
---|---|
Written by | Tony Marchant |
Directed by | Alex Chapple |
Starring | Shawn Ashmore David Suchet Joanne Whalley |
Music by | Gary Koftinoff |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Scott Garvie Laura Harbin Noel Hedges |
Cinematography | Miroslaw Baszak |
Editor | Ralph Brunjes |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production companies | Big Tree Productions Pope Productions Shaftesbury Films |
Original release | |
Release | March 8, 2009 |
Diverted is a 2009 CBC made-for-TV miniseries. The film was directed by Alex Chapple based on the screenplay by Tony Marchant. Diverted is a fictionalized account inspired by what actually happened to the people of Gander, Newfoundland, and the passengers and crews on the airliners diverted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during the 9/11 attacks in Operation Yellow Ribbon.
On September 11, 2001, as information seeps out about the 9/11 attacks on the US, the FAA begins directing all remaining aircraft in the air to nearby airports, completely clearing the skies. A total of 38 transatlantic flights at or near their "point of no return" (also known as the "point of safe return") are diverted to the nearest airport in Canada, Gander, Newfoundland. The anxious passengers leaving on business and vacation trips have no idea why their flights are being sent to a remote town in Canada. With wild rumours spreading, one British airliner's crew tells the passengers what is known, that a terrorist attack has taken place in the United States.
Personal stories emerge, with Mike Stiven (Shawn Ashmore), the air traffic controller at Gander meeting and falling in love with Alia Ramaswami (Anita Majumdar), a woman on one of the diverted airliners. Like many other passengers, New Yorker Samuel Stearn (David Suchet) is desperate to contact his son, who was in the World Trade Center. Marion Price (Joanne Whalley) and Andrew Tyler (Colin Buchanan) are other passengers who are brought together by their shared experiences.
The town of Gander mobilizes in Operation Yellow Ribbon to welcome the stranded passengers and crews, finding food and accommodations for everyone. Even years later, the connection between the stranded European and American travellers with their Canadian hosts remains strong.
Of the total of 200 aircraft flying over the Atlantic at the time of the 9/11 attacks, 38 flights were diverted to Gander, bringing 6,600 passengers and crew to a town of 9,000. Diverted was filmed during 2008 in the locations where the events occurred, including Gander, as well as St. John's, Newfoundland, Hamilton, Ontario, and London where many of the flights originated. [1]
Diverted was shown as a mini-series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) network. Critics noted the personal stories were interesting, but the slow pace of the production bogged it down. Reviewer David Nusair commented, "There's little doubt that Diverted, despite the inherently compelling nature of its premise, never quite becomes anything more than a mildly watchable movie-of-the-week …" [2] Gander's story, even though fictionalized, did make a difference for British reviewer Andy Webb: "… alongside these various storylines about the passengers and friendships it also delivers a heart warming story." [3]
At the 2009 Gemini Awards, David Suchet won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series. Tony Marchant was also nominated for a 2009 Gemini in the category, Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series. [4]
Director Alex Chapple was nominated for the 2009 DGC Craft Award (Direction - Television Movie/Mini-Series) from the Directors Guild of Canada. [4]
Operation SUPPORT is the name given to Canadian Forces activities directly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The CF had two immediate goals: to provide support for stranded aircrew and passengers from diverted commercial flights, and to increase emergency preparedness. Transport Canada called their operation Yellow Ribbon.
Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Gander Bay, 100 km (62 mi) south of Twillingate and 90 km (56 mi) east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on the northeastern shore of Gander Lake, it is the site of Gander International Airport, once an important refuelling stop for transatlantic aircraft. The airport is still a preferred emergency landing point for aircraft facing on-board medical or security issues.
David Michael Collenette, PC OOnt is a former Canadian politician. From 1974, until his retirement from politics in 2004, he was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. A graduate from York University's Glendon College in 1969, he subsequently received his MA, in 2004 and LL.D for education in 2015 from the same university. He was first elected in the York East riding of Toronto to the House of Commons on 8 July 1974, in the Pierre Trudeau government and returned to Parliament in 1993 representing Don Valley East.
Arrow Air Flight 1285R was an international charter flight carrying U.S. Army personnel from Cairo, Egypt, to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, via Cologne, West Germany, and Gander, Newfoundland. On the morning of Thursday, 12 December 1985, shortly after takeoff from Gander International Airport en route to Fort Campbell, the McDonnell Douglas DC-8 serving the flight stalled, crashed, and burned about half a mile from the runway, killing all 248 passengers and 8 crew members on board. As of 2024, it is the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Canadian soil. At the time of the crash, it was the deadliest aviation accident involving a DC-8; as of 2024, it is the second-deadliest, behind the crash of Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 nearly six years later.
Gander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and is operated by the Gander International Airport Authority. Canadian Forces Base Gander shares the airfield but is a separate entity from the airport. The airport is sometimes referred to as the "Crossroads of the World", and is classified as an international airport by Transport Canada.
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Operation Yellow Ribbon was commenced by Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001 in the United States. Canada's goal was to ensure that potentially destructive air traffic be removed from United States airspace as quickly as possible, and away from potential U.S. targets, and instead place these aircraft on the ground in Canada, at military and civilian airports primarily in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and British Columbia. Yukon, New Brunswick, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, and Quebec also took in aircraft so that any malicious or destructive potential threats could be better contained and neutralized. None of the aircraft proved to be a threat, and Canada hosted thousands of passengers who were stranded until U.S. airspace was reopened.
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St. John's International Airport is in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located 3 nautical miles northwest of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and serves the St. John's metropolitan area and the Avalon Peninsula. The airport is part of the National Airports System, and is operated by St. John's International Airport Authority Inc.
Tony Marchant is a British playwright and television dramatist. In 1982 he won the London Critics' Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright for The Lucky Ones and Raspberry. In 1999 he won the British Academy Television Awards Dennis Potter Award for services to television. His television work includes the acclaimed Holding On (1997), Never, Never, starring John Simm and Take Me Home.
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Gander was a Newfoundland dog who served as the mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada during World War II. He was killed in action during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, and was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal, the "animals' Victoria Cross", in 2000 for his deeds in the course of that battle. It was the first such award in over 50 years.
Anita Majumdar is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is best known for her role in the CBC television film Murder Unveiled for which she received the Best Actress award at the 2005 Asian Festival of First Films. Her acting credits include film, television, and theatre.
The Gander Public Library is a public library located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It has been part of the community since 1937, occupying five different buildings including its first and current locations. Public library services in Newfoundland and Labrador are provided by the Provincial Information & Library Resources Board, an independent board established by the Provincial Government through the Public Libraries Act.
Come from Away is a musical, with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and stranded travelers they housed and fed.
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Irene Sankoff is a Canadian librettist and composer–lyricist, best known for co-writing the Broadway musical Come from Away with her writing partner and husband, David Hein.
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Come from Away is a 2021 musical film comprising a live stage recording of Irene Sankoff and David Hein's 2017 musical of the same name, which tells the true story of 7,000 airline passengers who were stranded in a small town in Newfoundland, where they were housed and welcomed, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The film, produced in response to the shutdown of Broadway caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, was directed by Christopher Ashley and filmed in front of an audience that included frontline workers and 9/11 survivors in May 2021 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York City, featuring members of the Broadway cast.