Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Screening and Discussion
On March 13, 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by Russian soldiers – the first American journalist to die while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and collaborator, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and his final recordings from Ukraine and brought them back to their childhood home in Arkansas. As Brent’s journey to his final resting place unfolds, the film chronicles the years he and his brother spent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts.
The vérité film includes harrowing footage of the brothers’ reporting from around the globe, including time embedded with the Arkansas National Guard in Iraq, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the war in Somalia, immigrants’ journeying from Honduras to the United States, and Brent’s reportage upon arriving in Ukraine. Despite bearing witness to devastating loss and suffering, Brent fearlessly covered stories from the front lines, while empathically capturing the impact on innocent people. Unflinching in its depiction of death, loss, and the toll of war, the film is Brent’s ultimate testament to the critical value of wartime reporting and a tribute to journalists providing on-the-ground, life-threatening coverage of world events. As journalism becomes one of the most dangerous professions in the world, ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD is dedicated to Brent and all the devoted journalists who use their cameras to work for truth and understanding.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Juan Arredondo, Producer and Filmmaker, and Lucy Westcott, Chief Emergencies Officer, Committee to Protect Journalists, moderated by Azmat Khan, Director, Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism.
November 13, 2025, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1854637423459?aff=oddtdtcreator.
This event is co-sponsored by the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism at Columbia University and the Overseas Press Club.
Columbia Journalism School
Pulitzer Hall, Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor
2950 Broadway
New York, NY 10027