Hell and Back Again is a 2011 documentary film produced, shot, and directed by Danfung Dennis, about a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who returns from the Afghanistan conflict with a badly broken leg and post-traumatic stress disorder.
[3] Director Dennis worked as a war photographer in Afghanistan beginning in 2006, however, he became increasingly frustrated with photojournalism.
[7] To create an "honest portrayal of war", Dennis combines the two storylines of the mission in Afghanistan and the situation of Nathan Harris in North Carolina in his documentary.
[8] In another interview he stated that he worked to combine the "ethics of photojournalism", the role of pure observer, with the "narrative of film" to create an "immersive, visceral experience".
This presented Dennis some challenges, he especially noted the sound, the image stabilization, the focus and the fact that the camera overheated in about 15 minutes due to the high temperatures in Afghanistan.
He built a custom camera stabilizer rig with advanced sound equipment and attached it to his body armor when he was not filming.
[4][11] He explained in an interview that his decision to use the Canon EOS 5D Mark II allowed him to combine the "aesthetics of photography" and the "ethics of journalism" with the "narrative documentary" to create an "impressive, comprehensive experience".
Dennis used only natural sounds as background music, which he picked up in Afghanistan and in part significantly altered (see musique concrète).
A scene in the film, in which a village is secured, is under-laid with actual sounds of war-fighting which were slowed down to 2% of their original speed.
[14] The distribution rights for North America are held by Docurama Films, which released the documentation on January 24, 2012, on Blu-ray and DVD.
[21] The cinema releases in the United Kingdom and France were several broadcasts on the Spanish TV station Canal+ in April and September 2012.
[22] The only screening of the documentary in German-speaking countries took place in Austria in 2012 and 2013 at the frame[o]ut-freestyle-Filmfestival and the Filmfestival Kitzbühel.
[26] Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert sums up, the film "presents [Harris'] new reality with a stunningly good use of video and sound editing".
[28] V. A. Musetto, a critic for the New York Post, rated the film three out of four stars and called the documentary "bold."
In conjunction with the release of the documentary, the organization Disabled American Veterans launched an awareness campaign about post-traumatic stress disorder.
[40] REACT to FILM launched its College Action Network with a screening of Hell and Back Again at American University in Washington, D.C., on September 21, 2011.
Director Danfung Dennis spoke to the audience both at the launch event, and in-person and via Skype at subsequent College Action Network screenings across the country.
[4] On January 24, 2012, the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary, but lost to the American contribution Undefeated.
In response to the nomination, producer Mike Lerner received a congratulation letter from British Prime Minister David Cameron.
[42] Hell and Back Again won the Grierson Award 2012 in the category Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – International on November 6, 2012.