Which Way is the Frontline from Here?

By John Freeman on 26 July 2013

Writer Sebastian Junger (left) and photographer Tim Hetherington (right) during an assignment for Vanity Fair Magazine at Restrepo outpost in Afghanistan. Photo: Tim Hetherington

A moving portrait of acclaimed wartime photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington who was killed covering the Libyan conflict in 2011, Which Way is the Frontline from Here? is directed by friend, journalist and Restrepo co-director Sebastian Junger. The film screened in official selection at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and is set to be released in cinemas and through digital channels on 11 October and on DVD on 21st October 2012 through Kaleidoscope Entertainment.

On 20th April 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 he’d 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 inwhich Hetherington not only covered such dramatic frontline stories such as Liberia and Afghanistan, but also transcended the conventional boundaries of image-making to become one of the most important journalists of his generation.

Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm, War), Hetherington’s Restrepo co-director, traces his close friend’s work across the world’s 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.

• WHICH WAY IS THE FRONTLINE FROM HERE? THE LIFE AND TIME OF TIM HETHERINGTON will be released in cinemas and through digital channels on 11 October and on DVD on 21 October

• Buy Restrepo on DVD from amazon.co.uk

First published on the Charley’s War web site

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.