New Canaan Country School graduate Matthew Heineman ʼ98 is the director of a new film, “A Private War” hitting theaters nationwide today. A biopic of Marie Colvin, the legendary, eye-patch-wearing Sunday Times correspondent, the film has been receiving positive reviews since it first premiered to limited audiences at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
“The director and screenwriter remind the audience not just of the humanism that drives so many reporters, but also the extreme danger they put themselves in to bring us the truth,” The Washington Post stated in its Nov. 7 review.
“He has made a deeply distressing, authentically moving psychological study of unswerving obsession,” said the New York Times.
“Immediately an Oscar® contender. The most powerful war movie since the ‘Hurt Locker’,” said PBS of the film.
In the spring of 2015, Heineman, who is well-known for the hard-hitting documentaries “Cartel Land” and “City of Ghosts,” was inspired to make this film by the people who often dedicate their very lives to the craft of journalism.
“I had previously made Cartel Land – and I was sent a number of different scripts; none spoke to me, but I got an early draft of this one and it spoke to me in a profound way – it was a film I had to make,” he explained. “I’ve been in conflict zones before, in torture chambers – I’ve been shot at, so her story is not foreign to me – and neither is coming back to New York City and having those experiences linger with you. I deeply empathize with Marie Colvin. What I’ve tried to do is similar to what she tried to do – take complex geopolitical conflicts and humanize them. I felt a kinship to her and felt like it was a story I had to tell.”
“In this era of fake news and sound bites, for me the film is not just an homage to Marie and to journalists like herfighting for the truth – but a homage to journalism and the importance of journalism,” said Heinemann by phone.
The role of Marie Colvin is played in the film by Academy Award ® Nominee Rosamund Pike. Additional cast members include Jamie Dornan and Academy Award ® Nominee Stanley Tucci. Heineman, who is himself an Academy Award ® Nominated Director for “Cartel Land,” has been called by The Sundance Film Festival "one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today.” “City of Ghosts” was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and his previous film “Cartel Land” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won three Primetime Emmy Awards.
“I look back very fondly on my time at Country School – one of the many things NCCS did for me is make me curious about the world, which has resonated in all the work that I’ve done. NCCS made me inquisitive and curious and made me want to explore. Now I have the privilege of diving into new worlds and exploring them every few years. I feel huge responsibility to explore these issues and tell these stories.”
“A Private War” is now playing locally at Stamford Town Center’s Bow Tie 9 and Garden Cinema of Norwalk. For more information about the film, to watch the trailer or to find a theater near you, please visit https://www.aprivatewarfilm.com/. For information about Heineman’s prior films please visit: http://ourtimeprojects.com/.
New Canaan Country School is a co-ed, independent day school for students in Pre-K (ages 3 & 4) through Grade 9. The mission of New Canaan Country School is to guide students to reach their intellectual, creative, moral, and physical potential and to inspire students to be lifelong learners with the courage and confidence to make a positive contribution to the world. For more information about the school, please visit: www.countryschool.net.