RESTREPO
One Platoon, One Year, One Valley
A film by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
"RESTREPO" is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of
a platoon of U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie
focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, Restrepo, named after a platoon medic
who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous
postings in the US military.
This is an entirely experiential film . . . Our
cameras never leave the valley, we don't interview generals or diplomats. Our
only goal is to make you feel as though you have just done a 90-minute
deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.
An Outpost Films Production in association
with National Geographic Channel
Winner of the US Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film
Festival
DIRECTORS' STATEMENT The war in Afghanistan has become highly politicized, but soldiers rarely
take part in that discussion. Our intention was to capture the experience of
combat, boredom and fear through the eyes of the soldiers themselves. Their
lives were our lives: we did not sit down with their families, we did not
interview Afghans, we did not explore geopolitical debates. Soldiers are
living and fighting and dying at remote outposts in Afghanistan in
conditions that few Americans back home can imagine. Their experiences are
important to understand, regardless of one's political beliefs. Beliefs can
be a way to avoid looking at reality. This is reality.
Tim Hetherington
and Sebastian Junger
RESTREPO
