Theater: In a Film, a ‘Come From Away’ Tale

Sept. 11; fathomevents.com

The Broadway hit “Come From Away” plays only a bit part in Moze Mossanen’s documentary “You Are Here: A Come From Away Story.” But if you know the musical, you already know the extraordinary way that the people of tiny Gander, Newfoundland, welcomed the thousands of airline passengers — “come from aways,” they called them — stranded in their town after the Sept. 11 attacks, when dozens of international flights were grounded there.

The documentary, which will have its United States premiere on Wednesday at theaters across the country, retraces that time with the help of many of the people who inspired characters in the musical: the pilot, the mayor, the couple who fell in love. The documentary’s emotional power has the same source as “Come From Away” — the poignant knowledge that in a fearful moment, citizens of one nation embraced strangers, sharing what they had to make their visitors feel at home. LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES