‘Retrograde’ Trailer: Matthew Heineman’s Afghanistan Documentary IndieWire × Continue to IndieWire SKIP AD You will be redirected back to your article in seconds Back to IndieWire News All News Galleries Lists Box Office Trailers Festivals Thompson on Hollywood Film All Film Reviews Interviews Profiles of a Partnership 2022 Best Movies of 2022, So Far 2022 Fall Movie Preview 2023 Oscars ’90s Week Best of the Decade Video Podcasts TV All TV Reviews Interviews 2022 Fall TV Preview 2022 Emmys Best TV Shows of 2022, So Far Influencers: The Craft of TV 2022 Video Podcasts Awards All Awards 2023 Oscar Predictions TV Awards Calendar Film Awards Calendar Thompson on Hollywood Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022 Awards Spotlight Spring 2022 Craft Considerations Top of the Line Animation Podcasts Video All Video Podcasts Consider This Conversations Toolkit Sundance Studio Awards Spotlight Winter 2022 Tune In Shop Gift Guides Tech Movies and TV to Buy and Stream More About Team How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire Advertise with IndieWire Confidential Tips News All News Galleries Lists Box Office Trailers Festivals Thompson on Hollywood Film All Film Reviews Interviews Profiles of a Partnership 2022 Best Movies of 2022, So Far 2022 Fall Movie Preview 2023 Oscars ’90s Week Best of the Decade Video Podcasts TV All TV Reviews Interviews 2022 Fall TV Preview 2022 Emmys Best TV Shows of 2022, So Far Influencers: The Craft of TV 2022 Video Podcasts Awards All Awards 2023 Oscar Predictions TV Awards Calendar Film Awards Calendar Thompson on Hollywood Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022 Awards Spotlight Spring 2022 Craft Considerations Top of the Line Animation Podcasts Video All Video Podcasts Consider This Conversations Toolkit Sundance Studio Awards Spotlight Winter 2022 Tune In Shop Gift Guides Tech Movies and TV to Buy and Stream More About Team How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire Advertise with IndieWire Confidential Tips

‘ Retrograde’ Trailer Matthew Heineman’ s Doc Examines America’ s Final Days in Afghanistan

Prior to its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday check out IndieWire s exclusive trailer for the film

Christian Zilko Sep 3, 2022 12:45 pm Share This Article Reddit LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Print Talk “Retrograde” National Geographic One of the most anticipated documentaries of the fall festival season is “Retrograde,” Matthew Heineman’s new National Geographic film about the final days of the United States’ military presence in Afghanistan. After two decades of fighting the War on Terror, the withdrawal quickly became one of the biggest foreign policy debacles in American history. The Taliban made massive gains almost immediately after American troops left, leaving many to wonder if anything was gained from the entire endeavor. While the high-level political decisions have been debated at length, “Retrograde” promises to give audiences an unprecedented look at what happened on the ground as American troops wrapped up their operation and prepared to leave. The harrowing footage was captured at great risk to Heineman’s safety, but the documentarian is no stranger to risking his life to make films. He recently braved the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to make “The First Wave,” a documentary about essential health care workers treating patients despite a clear lack of resources. In his review of the film, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote that “this is a documentary that unashamedly wants to light up our emotions; it wants to rekindle the fires inside of us that may have burned out after being exposed to so much preventable death; it wants us to feel a sliver of the same fury and impotence and eventually, occasionally, mercifully, even the same catharsis that frontline workers were confronted with every day when this nightmare was at its worst.”

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'Retrograde' Review: An Unflinching Look at the Last Days of the U.S. in Afghanistan 'The First Wave' Review: Matthew Heineman's COVID Doc Is Overwhelmingly Emotional

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Christopher Nolan's Best Shots: 37 Images That Define the Director's Career Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 40 Films the Director Wants You to See In a 2021 interview with IndieWire, Heineman said that he’s made peace with the fact that making the kind of films that inspire him often requires personal risk. “Everyone has their own red line,” he said. “I'm just drawn to topics and ideas and people that are found in challenge. I'm trying to make films about ideas and things that people are living through or are talking about. But humanize that. Often these things are relegated to headlines or stats.” “Retrograde” is set to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday, September 3. You can watch the first teaser, an IndieWire exclusive, below: Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Matthew Heineman, Retrograde
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