Love+War
Pulitzer Prize-winning Lynsey Addario has risked her life to capture the stark realities of war — from the Middle East and Afghanistan to Ukraine. From National Geographic Documentary Films and Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Love+War chronicles Addario’s ascent in the male-dominated world of conflict photography. But her work is dangerous. She’s been kidnapped twice while on assignment in war zones — a cost she must wrestle with each time she leaves her husband and two sons to go on assignment. Behind the camera, Addario is torn between her unwavering commitment to the essential work of journalism and the powerful, competing demands of motherhood, grappling with what it truly means to follow your calling when it threatens everything you love.
Lynsey Addario photographs a damaged building in Ukraine. (Credit: National Geographic / Andriy Dubchak)
ofLynsey Addario photographs a damaged building in Ukraine. (Credit: National Geographic / Andriy Dubchak)
ofLynsey Addario on assignment in Iridimi Refugee Camp, Wadi Fira, Chad. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario on assignment in Iridimi Refugee Camp, Wadi Fira, Chad. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario on assignment in Tiné, on the Sudanese border in Northeast Chad. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario on assignment in Tiné, on the Sudanese border in Northeast Chad. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario says goodbye to her son Lukas before leaving on assignment. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario says goodbye to her son Lukas before leaving on assignment. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario at home with her son Alfred before leaving on assignment. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario at home with her son Alfred before leaving on assignment. (National Geographic/Caitlin Kelly)
ofLynsey Addario and her husband Paul de Bendern take a video call with Lynsey's mother. (Credit: National Geographic / Thorsten Thielow)
ofLynsey Addario and her husband Paul de Bendern take a video call with Lynsey's mother. (Credit: National Geographic / Thorsten Thielow)
ofLynsey Addario finds shelter from a nearby shelling during an assignment in Ukraine. (Credit: National Geographic / Andriy Dubchak)
ofLynsey Addario finds shelter from a nearby shelling during an assignment in Ukraine. (Credit: National Geographic / Andriy Dubchak)
ofDirected and Produced By Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
Produced by Shannon Dill, Anna Barnes
Executive Producers Carolyn Bernstein, Tim Horsburgh
Edited by Keiko Deguchi, Hypatia Porter
Director of Photography Thorsten Thielow
Additional Ukraine Cinematography Andriy Dubchak
Music By Claudia Sarne
Music Supervisor Susan Jacobs
Co-Producers Emma D. Miller, Matteo Brunetta