GMU Visiting Filmmakers Series: Kandahar Journals and Louie Palu

Kandahar Journals explores a photojournalist’s first hand account of his psychological state while covering a war. The film follows Louie Palu’s journey covering the war in Kandahar from 2006 to 2010 and its aftermath, based on his personal journals written in Kandahar. The film weaves together the chaos of the war, using combat footage shot and directed by Louie Palu, as well as the banality of everyday life back home in North America, directed by Devin Gallagher.

These two strands offer an intimate view into the experience of a combat photographer. The film goes on to explore Louie’s lifelong interest in understanding war connected to his family’s experience and his formative years as a photographer. The longer he covers the war, the more he realizes the disconnection that exists with the public back home, the war and himself. By the end of the film, he realizes that photography is but an imperfect means to convey the experience of war.

This event is sponsored by Global Affairs, Global Programs, Film and Media Studies, and Film and Video Studies.

It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact gmufams@gmail.com