Thank You for Bombing

Austrian filmmaker Barbara Eder's latest fiction feature looks at the behind-the-camera lives of three international war correspondents on assignment in Afghanistan. When a group of American soldiers in Afghanistan burn the Quran, the incident generates a worldwide controversy and the international news outlets send in their investigative troops. But for middle-aged Austrian reporter Ewald (Erwin Steinhauer), the assignment is cut short at the point of departure when he recognizes a figure from the past. Miles away, in Kabul, American reporter Lana (Manon Kahle) struggles to gain her male colleagues' respect for her work as an on-the-ground correspondent. A couple of floors above Lana's station headquarters sits Cal (Raphael von Bargen), a burnt-out reporter frustrated at having to deliver idle reports from a hotel rooftop. This triptych of stories gives us a glimpse into the human experience – the tension and anxiety, but also the quotidian in-between moments – behind the streams of text and pixels that make up our daily news.

""Thank You for Bombing" reminds us of the humanist instinct for truth and justice – and the sacrifices made in their pursuit." – Dimitri Eipides, TIFF.net

Austria 2015