Hell & Back Again

Director: Danfung Dennis My Title

Synopsis

The intensely personal story of Sergeant Harris and Marine battalion Echo Company from the start of the 2009 tour of Afghanistan to their return, the decompression and rehabilitation in the US. A study of exceptional bravery and loss, of friends and family struggling to support the returning warriors.

About the director

Danfung Dennis

Danfung Dennis graduated from Cornell University in 2004 with degrees in Applied Economics and Business Management.  He consulted small and medium sized businesses in Uganda and South Africa to develop their business strategies.  He started an independent photography business in Beijing, China in 2005 to provide images of breaking news in Asia to international news organizations.

In 2006, Dennis expanded coverage to the war in Afghanistan, diversifying his client base significantly. With this experience, Dennis then became a leading source of photojournalism of the war in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. His work was published in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Le Figaro Magazine, Financial Times Magazine, Mother Jones, Der Spiegel, and The Wall Street Journal.

In 2009, taking market forces and innovations in technology into consideration, Dennis repositioned and expanded into news footage and documentary film production.  PBS’s Frontline opened its fall 2009 feature on the Afghanistan War using Dennis’s footage.  The immersive nature of the footage prompted a flurry of comment and inquiry from the Pentagon, the White House, veterans groups, and viewers.  Other clients of news footage include ITV, BBC, and CBS.

Sales/Screening Contact

Name:
Mike Lerner (Producer)
Number:
+44-777088544
Email address:
  • "Photojournalist-turned-filmmaker Danfung Dennis" Robert Koehler
  • "The images he brings back are painterly and expressive, both exceptionally real in their photojournalistic quality and physically vivid as cinema." Robert Koehler
  • Sundance Film Festival 2011 Grand Jury Prize Winner
  • Sundance Film Festival 2011 Cinematography Winner
  • Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011 Special Jury Award Nominee
  • Edinburgh Inernational Film Festival 2011 Winner
  • Moscow International Film Festival 2011 Best Documentary Award Winner
  • Camden International Film Festival 2011 Best Documentary Award Nominee

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