On April 20, 2011, shortly after the release of his documentary RESTREPO – and only six weeks after attending the Oscar ceremony as a nominee – photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed by mortar fire in the city of Misrata, Libya, where hed been covering the civil war. He bled out in the back of a pick-up truck while being raced to the hospital, comforted by a Spanish photojournalist who was holding his hand and trying to keep him awake. Those moments ended a brilliant ten-year career in which Hetherington not only covered such dramatic frontline stories as Liberia and Afghanistan, but also transcended the conventional boundaries of image-making to become one of the most important journalists of his generation.
In the powerful new feature-length HBO documentary, Hetheringtons RESTREPO co-director and bestselling author Sebastian Junger traces his close friends work across the worlds battlefields to reveal what made him such a singular talent – and remarkable human being. The film also illuminates the incredible risks of the combat journalists profession, at a time when they are dying with greater and greater frequency in war zones.