Brent Renaud, an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist who was assassinated in Ukraine, was on assignment for Time Studios and working on a movie on the worldwide refugee crisis when he was killed, according to the firm.
Renaud, 50, worked on film and television projects alongside his brother, Craig Renaud, for The New York Times, HBO, NBC, Vice Media, and other firms. He shot in dangerous and conflict-ridden locations such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Mexico, and Ukraine.
“The death of Brent Renaud has left us saddened. Brent Renaud, an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, frequently collaborated with his brother Craig Renaud on the most difficult topics throughout the world. Brent was in the region recently, working on a TIME Studios piece about the worldwide refugee issue. In a statement, Time Magazine said, “Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones.”
The statement emphasised the importance of journalists being allowed to report the ongoing Russian aggression and humanitarian situation in Ukraine in a secure manner.
Renaud, who covered the world’s most difficult issues, was slain in the Kyiv region, while his colleague Juan Arredondo was injured. Arredondo recalls that the car they were driving came under bombardment at a checkpoint in the city of Irpen in a video uploaded on Instagram by a Kyiv-based hospital. He did not, however, offer any information regarding who was shooting at the automobile.
Renaud’s death was verified by the US State Department on Sunday, which said it is “providing all necessary consular support” to his family.
Vivian Schiller, who commissioned Renaud’s 2004 documentary series about the Iraq war for The New York Times and Discovery Channel, said Renaud’s wide film portfolio underscored the human cost of war and warfare, according to The New York Times.
Schiller described him as “simply a filmmaker with a huge heart.” “It seemed to infect his whole body of work.” “Off to War,” an intimate 2004 documentary series he co-created with his brother, was one of his first ventures. The brothers accompanied a troop of Arkansas National Guardsmen from the training ground to the battlefields for six months in Arkansas and then a year in Iraq.
Renaud’s intrepid, globe-trotting career began with this series. From the Black Lives Matter riots in Little Rock, Ark., to the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, he and his brother brought their cameras all around the world.
In a 2013 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, the brothers said that they had survived multiple near-death experiences, including automobile accidents, blasts from improvised explosive devices, and attacks by Egyptian military personnel.
Renaud was a fellow at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism from 2018 to 2019.
According to Renaud’s reporting partner, Arredondo, who detailed the events in a video uploaded on the Okhmatdyt hospital’s Instagram page, Renaud’s final job on Sunday was documenting migrants fleeing across bridges in Irpin.
Renaud told Curator Magazine in 2009, “We don’t seek for the hazardous tasks.” “However, once we’ve committed to a tale, we’re ready to go to any length to tell it.”