Corridor Four
Corridor Four challenges the image of the American hero in a heartfelt portrait of 9/11 first-responder Isaac Ho’opi’i as he works to put that traumatic experience behind him through the support of his family and his love of music.
- Filmmaker(s)
- Stephen Tringali
- Maria Bissell
- Category
- Full-Length Film
- Subject Matter
- Biography
- Featured In
A nationally recognized K9 Unit Officer, Isaac Ho’opi’i is responsible for rescuing many people from the Pentagon during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Countless articles were written about his heroism following 9/11. He was photographed by Richard Avedon for a spread in USA Today. He appeared on NBC’s Today show. And he ran the Olympic Torch on its way to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
After all the news cameras had turned off and all the lights had dimmed, Isaac was left only with the horrific images he had seen and the memory of those he was unable to save. His is a story not of a hero basking in the glory of his past deeds, but of a human being filled with regret that he couldn’t change something completely out of his control.
“He is still haunted,” Isaac’s wife, Gigi, tells us at the beginning of the film. What she’s speaking about specifically is that Isaac and his colleagues continue to suffer from the trauma they experienced on 9/11. The stigma associated with their trauma makes it difficult to seek the proper care, and the symptoms—if gone untreated—threaten to tear apart victims’ families and push them toward isolation, self-medication, and in the worst cases, suicide.
Stephen Tringali - Director/Writer/Cinematographer
Stephen went to film school at American University where he was the cinematographer for
“Dying Green,” a documentary about the process of green burial that won a Student Academy
Award. After graduating from AU, Stephen moved to Los Angeles where he worked as an IA-TSE Local
600 focus puller on films like Paul Schrader’s THE CANYONS before moving full time into
cinematography. Stephen recently wrapped up shooting a feature-length film is staring McCaul
Lombardi (AMERICAN HONEY, PATTI CAKE$) and Morgan Saylor (HOME-LAND, WHITE GIRL).
CORRIDOR FOUR is the first feature-length film that Stephen has undertaken as both director
and cinematographer.Maria Bissell - Writer/Producer
Maria started working in the film industry as an assistant for two years to a TV packaging agent
at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles and now assists two showrunners in kids’ television,
working for both Disney and Nickelodeon.She has produced and directed a variety of short-form content, including music videos,
narratives, and sketches, that have been featured on Funny or Die’s front page, NPR’s All Songs
Considered, Pitchfork, Stereogum, SPIN, Noisey, and many others. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Mc-Lean, VA; Maria loves utilizing her abilities as a filmmaker to celebrate the people of her hometown. Maria is currently preparing to direct her first narrative feature film, which is scheduled to
shoot January of 2019.
