Astonishing

We are living in fast changing times, of access, via the Internet, to parts of the world and subject matter that were previously out of reach or out of bounds. Nowhere is this change in access more evident than in the worlds of cinema and journalism and when the two meet you are close to hyper surrealism, an area once the preserve of artists and photographers.

Restrepo, a film by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington tells the story of American involvement in the Korengal Valley during October 2007. Restrepo is the name of the forward base that the soldiers manage to construct, it is named after Juan 'Doc' Restrepo one of their colleagues who was killed soon after deployment. The film is unflinching in its portrayal of modern warfare and it's interesting comparing it with other conflicts and you come to the conclusion that all warfare seems to involve boredom, disease and the inevitable question of "why are we doing this?"

As a follow-up to the film, which received its British premiere on National Geographic this past week, Sergeant Sal Giunta became the first living Medal of Honour recipient since Vietnam, his story is told below:

The Sal Giunta Story from SebastianJunger/TimHetherington on Vimeo.