By David Germain
The Associated Press

Michael Moore (AP file photo)

One film provides a positive message of unity. Another dramatizes the president's difficult days. A third offers sympathy to a nation wounded on Sept. 11, but includes foreign filmmakers' points of view.

The span of emotions Americans felt on Sept. 11, 2001, is reflected in a batch of films coming to DVD about the terrorist attacks, whose tones range from communal and hopeful to raw and provocative.

Released this week are 7 Days in September, a heartfelt chronicle of New Yorkers in the week after the attacks, and DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, starring Timothy Bottoms as George W. Bush in a drama that begins with a whispered word about the attacks to the president during a school visit and concludes with his resolute speech to the nation the following week.

'Fahrenheit 9/11' out Oct. 5

Michael Moore's anti-Bush assault Fahrenheit 9/11, a $100 million hit that drew record numbers of moviegoers for a documentary, debuts on home video Oct. 5. September 11 - a French-produced collection of 11 short films that some critics felt carried an anti-American tone - comes out Oct. 26.

September 11 presents short films from an international gallery of directors, including Sean Penn, Claude Lelouch, Mira Nair, Ken Loach, Danis Tanovic and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

DC 9/11 is a behind-the-scenes dramatization as Bush and his aides cope with a crisis unlike any previously faced by the White House.

'How do you make policy?'

"The film itself doesn't really play on the emotions of 9/11 particularly," said Lionel Chetwynd, who produced and wrote the film, which aired on Showtime. "It's really an attempt to show, how do you attempt to make policy in this sort of situation?"

Chetwynd said he gained good access to the White House to research the movie, including a 53-minute interview with Bush.

7 Days in September, which was seen on A&E, is a collaborative effort featuring footage from 28 filmmakers, some professionals, some amateurs, to create a portrait of life in New York City after the attacks.

Producer Steven Rosenbaum said he began the project after looking out the windows of his Manhattan production office and seeing incidents of enormous good will and resilience amid grief and anger.