National Geographic Films, documentary festival Hot Docs and realscreen magazine are uniting to pay tribute to filmmaker Tim Hetherington with a special one-off charity screening of the late director’s Academy Award©-nominated Afghanistan war documentary RESTREPO.
The screening will be held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre in Toronto at 3 p.m. EST on Saturday, May 7, during the Hot Docs documentary festival. All proceeds from the screening will be donated to a charitable organization to be determined by the Hetherington family to honor Tim's life, work and humanitarian initiatives around the world.
RESTREPO co-director Sebastian Junger will attend the screening, paying tribute to Tim, his friend and collaborator, and will host a Q&A session after the film.
Junger said: “Tim devoted his life to documenting the human cost of war, and he has now become part of that cost. As his colleague and close friend, I know that Tim’s paramount concern was civilian suffering during war, and he would want us to do everything in our power to alleviate that suffering. The world lost a very great man, but I know that Tim’s work will continue to bring us insight and understanding for decades to come. He will be deeply missed.”
Lisa Truitt, President of National Geographic Cinema Ventures, added: “We are shocked and deeply saddened. Tim was a very special and talented man, and we will always be inspired by his vision and passion. He was willing to take incredible risks to show us a true and unbiased picture of our world, and for that dedication he paid the ultimate price. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.”
The special screening comes after Hetherington, 40, was killed in Libya on April 20 while covering the conflict between Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan rebels. The conflict also claimed the life of his friend and fellow photojournalist Chris Hondros.
The news sent shockwaves and sadness throughout the documentary and journalism communities. Hetherington was highly praised as both a photographer and a filmmaker, having won the 2007 World Press Photo Award for his pictures of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and sharing the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for RESTREPO with his co-director, Junger.
For RESTREPO, Hetherington and Junger spent a year documenting one American platoon’s battles in Afghanistan’s danger-filled Korengal Valley. Unflinching, emotional and insightful, the film has won numerous awards — in addition to the 2010 Sundance Prize, it received the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Documentary and the National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary, and it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards©.
Chris McDonald, Executive Director, Hot Docs, said: “Hot Docs is honored to host this special screening of RESTREPO. Tim’s untimely death is a tragic loss, and I’m sure our audience and documentary colleagues will join with us in paying tribute to his remarkable life and work.”
Barry Walsh, Editor, realscreen, added: “The tragic passing of Tim Hetherington has seen the documentary and journalism communities lose someone who obviously had so much to offer through his sense of commitment and his pursuit of the real story. The team at realscreen is honored to be uniting with National Geographic and Hot Docs to support this worthy cause and pay tribute to a filmmaker and photojournalist who will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him.”
Tickets for the screening, priced at CAD$20, are on sale now, available online at hotdocs.ca, by phone at (+1) 416-637-5150, or in person at the Hot Docs documentary box office at 131 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Additional charity donations can be made onsite at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
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