“Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington” will debut on HBO on Thursday, April 18.
The film comes just three years after “Restrepo” was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in documentary competition. Hetherington and Sebastian Junger spent a year embedded in Afghanistan with an American platoon in Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature the following year.
To cover the dramatic arc of Hetherington’s inspirational career leading up to his final day in Misrata, Junger draws upon a wealth of visual material that Hetherington left behind, from his brilliant archive of still images, to visceral video footage from the world’s battlegrounds, to excerpts from his short film “Diary,” a hallucinatory trip through his war-addled mind as he tries to integrate his experiences overseas with his life at home. Included also are moving interviews with his family, friends and colleagues, including photojournalist James Brabazon (one of the film’s producers), who recount Hetherington’s unique perspective and compassionate spirit.