War Filmmakers : Forgotten Heroes

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a regiment of soldiers about to land on the beaches of North Africa, D-day operation in Normandy, an American flag hoisted on top of a Pacific island, GIs cheered by jubilant Parisians, the haggard looks of deportees in the death camps, atomic bombs over Japan... The world bore witness to the great and tragic theater of World War II through these iconic images. But, though these moments are known by all, their authors have been long overlooked. From the inside, under the blaze of battle, photographers and cameramen turned their lens to the atrocities of war; sharing the life of the soldiers and transmitting thousands of hours of footage and photographs to those back home, sometimes as fast as 24H after shooting. Some were renowned Hollywood directors like John Ford, Darryl Zanuck, and George Stevens, but many more were the everyday cameraman like Jack Lieb and Walter Rosenblum. Whatever walk of life they hailed from, each and every man committed to serve with a camera in hand. Those who came back were never the same. After 20 years of investigation, one of the world's leading experts on WWII archives succeeded in discovering new images which testify to their work and courage. He has scoured thousands of pages of reports detailing their journeys from home to the battlefields — from their training, to military logistics, all the way to the utilization of their imagery taken on the battlefield. They experienced the same highs and lows, tragedy and triumphs as each and every soldier on the front lines. In this film, we tell the story of these forgotten heroes, discover new and surprising histories imbedded in their experiences on the front lines, and reveal their lasting legacy.