HBO Original Documentary “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” Debuts October 21 [VIDEO]

The HBO Original documentary short ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD, directed by Craig Renaud and Brent Renaud (HBO’s “Dope Sick Love,” “Little Rock Central”), debuts Tuesday, October 21 (9:00-9:40PM ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. The film had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the Documentary Short competition.

On March 13, 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by Russian soldiers – the first American journalist to die while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and collaborator, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and his final recordings from Ukraine and brought them back to their childhood home in Arkansas. As Brent’s journey to his final resting place unfolds, the film chronicles the years he and his brother spent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts.

The vérité film includes harrowing footage of the brothers’ reporting from around the globe, including time embedded with the Arkansas National Guard in Iraq, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the war in Somalia, immigrants’ journeying from Honduras to the United States, and Brent’s reportage upon arriving in Ukraine. Despite bearing witness to devastating loss and suffering, Brent fearlessly covered stories from the front lines, while empathically capturing the impact on innocent people. Unflinching in its depiction of death, loss, and the toll of war, the film is Brent’s ultimate testament to the critical value of wartime reporting and a tribute to journalists providing on-the-ground, life-threatening coverage of world events. As journalism becomes one of the most dangerous professions in the world, ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD is dedicated to Brent and all the devoted journalists who use their cameras to work for truth and understanding.

Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD, a Renaud Brothers Film in association with DCTV. Directed and produced by Craig Renaud and Brent Renaud; produced by Juan Arredondo; executive produced by Jon Alpert. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Tina Nguyen.