A vital and in many ways even cathartic documentary overview of the decade-plus rebuilding of the World Trade Center site in New York City following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, director Richard Hankin’s 16 Acres throws a light on the sort of sharp-elbowed but slow-footed bureaucratic maneuvering that comes with city planning, most especially of a site this fraught with emotional baggage. At once fascinating and maddening, it’s a clear-eyed, fair-minded and exhaustively sourced look at the sort of story that national news organizations often have a hard time distilling and tracking through time.

Aside from the often under-reported staggering engineering challenges related to the river-adjacent tract of land, a major complicating factor in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site has to do with the massive number of parties involved. Real estate developers, insurance companies, architects, local residents, families of first responders and other 9/11 victims, and of course politicians all lay claim to the area in various fashion, and have often had mutually exclusive feelings about what sort of rebuilding is appropriate. Just as a matter of sheer dramatic surface engagement, then, 16 Acres delivers an engrossing tale.

A few of the highlights: developer Larry Silverstein, the owner of the site who was left still paying $10 million a month in rent after the attacks, filed a lawsuit over whether the felling of the WTC Towers was one incident or two separate events, for the purpose of recouping as much insurance money as possible. After initial plans for a new WTC site were scrapped, an international open competition was held. Then, after two finalists were named, New York Governor George Pataki unilaterally reversed the decision of the commission charged with studying and choosing the winning design, even after word leaked in the press of the supposed winner.

Architect Daniel Libeskind was picked for his visionary master plan, but had no experience at all with skyscraper design. Silverstein, then, brought in yet another architect, David Childs. Naturally, their visions clashed — as did the feelings of some families of victims with Michael Arad’s widely praised design for a reflecting pool-type memorial. And lest one think good, old-fashioned snafus couldn’t be part of the mix, the final, meticulously arrived at building design then had to be scuttled due to security concerns somehow lost in transit between the Port Authority and the New York Police Department. “At some point the anger just gives way to depression,” says one interviewee, and you totally feel where he’s coming from.

The victory of Hankin’s film is its scope and open airing of all these contrasting opinions. Both Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg submit to interviews, as well as Silverstein, the aforementioned architects and many other less well known figures, including reporters who covered the story for the New York Times and other publications. The result doesn’t demonize anyone unfairly. It’s a story about ego and hubris, yes, but also the better angels of our nature. Maybe Winston Churchill was really on to something when he said, famously, that after every option has been exhausted, Americans can be counted on to do the right thing.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case with simple yet evocative cover art that portrays the site’s hybrid design, 16 Acres comes to DVD via First Run Features, with a 5.1 Dolby digital audio track that more than adequately handles the fairly straightforward aural demands of the title, plus optional English subtitles. A film of this sort, although in substantive ways it’s more than merely a snapshot in time, still cries out for forward-leaning updating, and the bonus features herein lack a complete, comprehensive view of the now-completed One World Trade Center. Still, there is time-lapse footage of the construction, plus photo galleries that spotlight drawings and other artist renderings. There are also two short films, one of which shows the antenna tower being installed, and Hankin and his colleagues also produced an enhanced, interactive e-book companion that’s available on iTunes, featuring extra videos, animation and more. To purchase the DVD via First Run, click here; to purchase via Half, click here; to purchase via Amazon, click here. B+ (Movie) B- (Disc)