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View Full Version : Oscar-Nominated Restrepo Director Killed in Libya



Teh One Who Knocks
04-20-2011, 09:47 PM
by Marcus Errico and Peter Gicas - E! Online


http://i.imgur.com/7YiFM.jpg

Documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, an Oscar nominee this year for codirecting the harrowing Afghanistan war story Restrepo, was killed today while chronicling the Libyan civil conflict. He was 40.

Three photographers working alongside him were also injured, with one, Chris Hondros, reportedly suffering a critical brain wound.

While details are still emerging as to exactly what happened, Reuters reported Hetherington and his group were hit by mortar fire.

"Sad news Tim Hetherington died in Misrata now when covering the front line. Chris Hondros is in a serious status," wrote fellow photographer and longtime Hetherington friend André Liohn on his Facebook page.

Just hours earlier, Hetherington had posted what turned out to be his final Twitter message:

"In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."

http://i.imgur.com/L60qO.jpg

There have been conflicting reports about the status of the others. While the New York Times reported that Hondros, an American working for the Getty photo agency, was "clinging to life," several publications have since reported that he succumbed to his wounds. And although Liohn downplayed the condition of another injured colleague, British photographer Guy Martin, the Times reports he endured potentially fatal wounds.

There was happier news about the fourth member of the party that the various reports agree on: Michael Christopher Brown sustained minor shrapnel injuries and is expected to fully recover.

Hetherington and cohort Sebastian Junger made the rounds this past season as Restrepo collected several awards, capped by an Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary.
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"This is our first time doing all this," Hetherington told E! News at the National Board of Review Awards back in January. "It's all a surprise for us. We're absolutely delighted and honored. The most important thing for us is that the film is being played wide across America and that people are responding to it because, the fact is, people are worried about Afghanistan, and we're worried, and we want the debate to continue. We're so delighted our film is part of that discussion."

Aside from Restrepo, Hetherington was known for his shots of war-torn regions and his work regularly appeared in such magazines as Vanity Fair.

Tim Kelly, President of the National Geographic Society, released the following statement to E! News regarding Hetherington's passing.

"National Geographic is devastated by the tragic news of Tim Hetherington's death in Libya," said Kelly. "This is a sad and terrible day. We join the community of dedicated photojournalists and documentarians around the world who are mourning his loss."

Hetherington's family also sent out a statement as well.

"It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer Tim Hetherington, was killed today in Misrata, Libya by a rocket-propelled grenade," it read. "Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award-nominated documentary Restrepo, which he co-produced with his friend Sebastian Junger. Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. He will be forever missed."

beowulf
04-20-2011, 09:55 PM
so did he expect nato to provide him with some kind of personal protection?................idiot for going there in the first place imho...............you go into a war zone, you know you are at risk and must accept that you might not make it home again

Teh One Who Knocks
04-20-2011, 10:00 PM
so did he expect nato to provide him with some kind of personal protection?................idiot for going there in the first place imho...............you go into a war zone, you know you are at risk and must accept that you might not make it home again

Yeah, that's pretty much my take too...you go into an active war zone, your life is in your own hands. I'm sure that reporters that go in embedded with troops and are way better protected because of the soldiers are told the exact same thing.

beowulf
04-20-2011, 10:13 PM
I'm sure that reporters that go in embedded with troops and are way better protected because of the soldiers are told the exact same thing.

dont know about any others but UK reporters who officially go in with troops have to go thro some training before they even get out there, including weapons handling.........just in case

Teh One Who Knocks
04-20-2011, 10:18 PM
dont know about any others but UK reporters who officially go in with troops have to go thro some training before they even get out there, including weapons handling.........just in case

Not sure about the reporters embedded with US troops, but I would assume that they probably must go thru some kind of training. Has me curious now :-k

Teh One Who Knocks
04-20-2011, 10:25 PM
It appears that there are private companies that will train journalists that are going into war zones:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1557505

beowulf
04-20-2011, 10:32 PM
Not sure about the reporters embedded with US troops, but I would assume that they probably must go thru some kind of training. Has me curious now :-k

we got an actor over here called ross kemp...............soap star.....also played a SAS sergant in a shit series.....but hes now an 'investagative journalist'......but much respect to him cos he does go into some fucking hairy situations (pirates in somalia, drugs lords in LA,jamaican gangs, etc).......he did an excellant series in astan attached to UK forces......he had to do some training in the UK first.....when he did some weopons training the regulars were taking the piss cos he was crap but had played this SAS tough guy in 'ultimate force'.....but unlike a lot of reporters he really was up the sharp end


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gwMb2fEooQ

Fodster
04-20-2011, 11:52 PM
Has anyone seen the film BTW?

Teh One Who Knocks
04-21-2011, 12:29 AM
Has anyone seen the film BTW?

Nope, I'd actually never even heard of it until I saw this story

Fodster
04-21-2011, 01:19 AM
Nope, I'd actually never even heard of it until I saw this story

I love films like this, might have to grab a copy :tup: