This deeply affectionate and totally disarming epilogue to the distinguished photo-journalist Tim Hetherington by Sebastian Junger his friend, colleague and co-director on the Oscar nominated ‘Restropo’ will have you reaching for your box of Kleenex. And quite rightly so. Aside from his inestimable body of work, this devilishly handsome tall rangy Brit ex public schoolboy with his compulsion for travelling the rough spots of the world so that he could ‘connect with real people in unique and unusual circumstances’ was clearly an old fashioned gent i.e. a completely unselfish decent human-being with such an infectious joie de vivre.
In 2007 Tim won the World Press Photo competition for his picture of a tired American soldier covering his face with his hand following a day of fighting in the Korangal Valley, Afghanistan. In the next two years he made several trips to Afghanistan with Sebastian Junger, and the two collaborated on the 2010 documentary ‘Restrepo’ based on their assignment in Afghanistan. When I blogged my Review on this I recall declaring it one of the finest examples of cinema verite I had ever seen and ‘an exceptional and stunning piece of journalism’. Now after watching behind the scenes of how/why this whole movie came about, I am even more in awe.
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Aged 40 with a 10 year career behind him and a reputation as a humanitarian and a photo-journalist that will last for many years to come … and not just because of the Square named after him Libya or all his posthumous awards. From the interviews with his family you can see where he had inherited his strength of character from, and they also re-affirmed what all his friends and colleagues bore witness to : this was a remarkable inspirational man with unlimited rare compassion. He will be sorely missed.
★★★★★★★★★★
Labels: biography, documentary, Sundance, war
