- Title: USA: War photographers' lives are documented in new film "The Bang Bang Club"
- Date: 22nd April 2011
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 21, 2011) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) EXTERIORS OF THEATER PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE OUTSIDE OF THE THEATER ACTOR RYAN PHILLIPPE ON RED CARPET WITH PHOTOJOURNALIST GREG MARINOVICH ACTOR RYAN PHILLIPPE SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREG MARINOVICH, PHOTOJOURNALIST, SAYING: "You know it is, you know it's been a heavy year in kind of attrition for journalist starting from November when Joao Silva who co-authored the book with me lost his legs in Afghanistan and then shortly after him a British journalist lost his legs and it's just quite heavy." (SOUNDBITE) (English) RYAN PHILLIPPE, ACTOR, SAYING: 'A female reporter attacked in Egypt." (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREG MARINOVICH, PHOTOJOURNALIST, SAYING: "Lara who's a friend of ours, a South African and I mean, you know, it's just a lot of news and a lot of - I don't know, it just seems to be a high rate of attrition on journalist currently." ACTOR RYAN PHILLIPPE SPEAKING TO KID REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) RYAN PHILLIPPE, ACTOR, SAYING: "You know, it was more of his just kind of his perspective and experience and sharing with me what it was like to go through some of the incidents depicted in the movie, incredible resource for an actor, you know, having him there." DIRECTOR STEVEN SILVER SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVEN SILVER, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "I think it's a sad commentary that - I think if you would have released the film a month from now or six months from now, there was a reasonably good chance that there would have been a journalist somewhere in the world who was a causality of some form or another of one of the many conflicts. You know, what I really, the main thing I feel about it is that it's just enormously sad and our thoughts are with both of their friends and their families." ACTOR TAYLOR KITSCH SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) TAYLOR KITSCH, ACTOR, SAYING: "I think we can really just go through the papers sometimes and read all these crazy stories about people paying the price to bring this, expose this kind of stuff. But hopefully this does, hopefully it lingers a bit longer and people recognize what these guys are doing and scarifying." ACTOR TAYLOR KITSCH SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) TAYLOR KITSCH, ACTOR, SAYING: "It's basically someone unbiased to talk to that helped me come out of it. Just being conscious of it surrounding yourself with people that knew you way before. It's a role you take home with you I guess you know." ACTRESS MALIN AKERMAN SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALIN AKERMAN, ACTRESS, SAYING: "Well it was great because I got to shadow her, she's still a photo editor and so I got to shadow her at her workplace for a day. We sat down and spoke about, you know she told me all these stories about what it was like to be working during that time and also specific moments of when her best friends got shot and when they died and how she reacted because I've never been in that situation were a friend of mine had gotten shot in the line of fire, so I don't know how I would react. So she kind of told me, you know, she had to keep it together for the boys when she got to the hospital, because you know, who knows, I probably thought she would lose it."
- Embargoed: 7th May 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA4N941JZIIE1RQK0DL30W3YPI4
- Story Text: Actors Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch and Malin Akerman hit the red carpet on Thursday (April 21) to celebrate the Tribeca premiere of "The Bang Bang Club".
"The Bang Bang Club" tells the real-life story of four war photographers working in South Africa in the early 90's. Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva, Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek all risked their lives in order to document the violence associated with the first free elections in post Apartheid South Africa. The two surviving members of the so-called club Joao Silva and Greg Marinovich served as film consultants on the project.
Art imitated life on Wednesday (April 20) when photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed after coming under fire in the Libyan town of Misrata. Hetherington, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tim Hetherington and Hondros, a Getty photographer were among a group working together on a main thoroughfare of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
"I think if you would have released the film a month from now or six months from now, there was a reasonable good chance that there would have been a journalist somewhere in the world who was a causality of some form or another of one of the many conflicts. The main thing I feel about it is that it's just enormously sad and our thoughts are with both of their friends and their families," director Steven Silver said.
Silver, who wrote and directed the film adapted the screenplay from Marinovich and Silva book, "The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War," which was released in 2000.
"It's been a heavy year in kind of attrition for journalist starting from November when Joao Silva who co-authored the book with me lost his legs in Afghanistan and then shortly after him a British journalist lost his legs and it just quite heavy," said Marinovich.
Actor Taylor Kitsch hopes that the film will bring more attention to those risking their lives to cover violent conflicts around the world.
"I think we can really just go through the papers sometimes and read all these crazy stories about people paying the price to bring this expose this kind of stuff. But hopefully this does, hopefully it lingers a bit longer and people recognize what these guys are doing and scarifying," explained Kitsch.
Actor Ryan Phillippe portrays Marinovich in the film which exposes the thrill, danger and moral questions the four men faced while covering the conflict. Phillippe said he and Marinovich spent as much time as they could together before cameras rolled.
"It was more of his just kind of his perspective and experience and sharing with me what it was like to go through some of the incidents depicted in the movie, incredible resource for an actor, you know, having him there," said Phillippe.
For Kitsch, who lost 30 pounds for the film, the movie was emotionally challenging. After filming the actor said he spent time talking with someone who was able to help him transition back to the real world.
"Basically someone unbiased to talk to that helped me come out of it. Just being conscious of it surrounding yourself with people that knew you way before. It's a role you take home with you I guess you know," he told Reuters.
Comedic actress Malin Akerman got a chance to flex her acting chops as Robin Comley, a newspaper photo editor.
"She's still a photo editor and so I got to shadow her at her workplace for a day. She told me all these stories about what it was like to be working during that time and also specific moments of when her best friends got shot and when they died and how she reacted because I've never been in that situation were a friend of mine had gotten shot in the line of fire. So she kind of told me, you know, she had to keep it together for the boys when she got to the hospital, because you know, who knows, I probably thought she would lose it," Akerman explained.
The Tribeca Film Festivalon May 1. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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