Brent Renaud

{{Short description|American journalist and filmmaker (1971–2022)}}

{{Infobox person/Wikidata

| fetchwikidata = ALL

| dateformat = mdy

| caption = Renaud in 2007

| birth_place = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

| death_place = Irpin, Ukraine

| death_cause = Gunshot wounds during the battle of Irpin

}}

Brent Anthony Renaud (October 2, 1971{{cite news |last1=Traub |first1=Alex |title=Brent Renaud, Crusading Filmmaker, Is Killed at 50 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/obituaries/brent-renaud-dead.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 14, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313221012/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/obituaries/brent-renaud-dead.html |archive-date=March 13, 2022|url-status=live}} – March 13, 2022) was an American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and photojournalist. Renaud worked with his brother Craig to produce films for outlets such as HBO and Vice News, and was a former contributor to The New York Times. According to Ukrainian officials, he was killed on March 13, 2022, by Russian soldiers while covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Irpin, a city near Kyiv.

Life and career

Renaud was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. His mother, Georgann Freasier, was a social worker, and his father, Louis Renaud, was a salesman. Renaud earned his bachelor's degree in English literature from Southern Methodist University and a master's degree in sociology from Columbia University.{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2022 |title=Brent Renaud, journalist killed in Ukraine, was a SMU grad who mentored at-risk Dallas youth |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/03/13/brent-renaud-journalist-killed-in-ukraine-was-a-smu-grad-who-mentored-at-risk-dallas-youth/ |access-date=March 14, 2022 |website=Dallas News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Traub |first=Alex |date=2022-03-13 |title=Brent Renaud, Crusading Filmmaker, Is Killed at 50 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/obituaries/brent-renaud-dead.html |access-date=2022-03-15 |issn=0362-4331}}

He lived and worked in Little Rock and New York City.{{Cite web|url=http://niemanreports.org/authors/brent-renaud/|title=Brent Renaud Archives|website=Nieman Reports}}{{cite web |title=Renaud Brothers: Bio |url=https://www.renaudbrothers.com/bio |website=Renaud Brothers |access-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-date=March 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317185455/https://www.renaudbrothers.com/bio |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dctvny.org/s/news/brent-renaud-1971-2022-MC4VTNGOOEANBNXJDW3QZ3G4Y6J4|title=Brent Renaud 1971 – 2022|access-date=September 30, 2022|website=DCTV}} In collaboration with his brother Craig, Brent Renaud produced a series of films and television programs, mostly focusing on humanistic stories from the world's hot spots. From 2004 to 2005, the Renaud brothers filmed the Discovery Channel series Off to War, which covered Arkansas reservists in the Iraqi conflict and their families.{{Cite news |last=Barnhart |first=Arron |date=October 22, 2005 |title='Off to War' follows reservists, families |pages=24 |work=The Olympian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97541193/off-to-war-follows-reservists/ |access-date=March 13, 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Rodriquez |first=Cristina |date=August 9, 2004 |title=Brothers' documentary shows soldiers' true experience |pages=4 |work=The Springfield News-Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97541330/brothers-documentary-shows-soldiers/ |access-date=March 13, 2022}}

The brothers also covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the political crises in Egypt and Libya, conflicts in Africa, Mexican drug war, and the refugee crisis in Central America. They won several awards in television and journalism, including two DuPont-Columbia Awards and a Peabody Award in 2015 for their video series "Last Chance High."{{Cite web|url=https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2015/04/20/renaud-brothers-win-peabody-for-last-chance-high|title=Renaud brothers win Peabody for 'Last Chance High'|first=Lindsey|last=Millar|date=April 20, 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Eifling |first1=Sam |title=Remembering Brent Renaud, a fearless journalist who focused his camera on vulnerable people around the world |url=https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2022/03/16/remembering-brent-renaud-a-fearless-journalist-who-focused-his-camera-on-vulnerable-people-around-the-world |work=Arkansas Times |date=16 March 2022}} The brothers directed the documentary Meth Storm, released in 2017 by HBO Documentary Films.{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1741659018756931|title=Film review: Craig Renaud and Brent Renaud (dirs.), Meth Storm|first=Kevin|last=Revier|date=February 12, 2018|journal=Crime, Media, Culture|volume=14|issue=3|pages=511–513|doi=10.1177/1741659018756931|s2cid=149296956}} In 2019, Renaud was appointed a visiting professor at the University of Arkansas.{{Cite web |date=September 9, 2019 |title=Feature Filmmaker Appointed Visiting Professor |url=https://news.uark.edu/articles/49858/feature-filmmaker-appointed-visiting-professor |access-date=March 13, 2022 |website=University of Arkansas}} Renaud was a 2019 Nieman Fellow. Together with his brother, he was a grantee of the Pulitzer Center.{{cite web |title=Renaud brothers |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/people/renaud-brothers |publisher=Pulitzer Center}} They also founded the Little Rock Film Festival.{{Cite news |date=October 1, 2015 |title=Founders call Little Rock Film Festival a wrap after 9 years |work=Arkansas Democrat Gazette |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/oct/01/founders-call-lr-film-festival-a-wrap-a/ |access-date=March 13, 2022}} Co-producer for the documentary series Life of Crime: 1984–2020, which was also nominated for a Peabody Award in 2021.

Death

According to Ukrainian officials, Renaud was shot and killed by Russian soldiers in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, while covering the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/journalist-ukraine-russia-irpin-war-b2034793.html |first1=Alex |last1=Woodward |first2=David |last2=Harding |title=Award-winning US filmmaker Brent Renaud killed by Russian forces in Ukraine|date=March 13, 2022|website=The Independent}}{{Cite news |last=Schwirtz |first=Michael |date=March 13, 2022 |title=Brent Renaud, an American journalist, is killed in Ukraine. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/world/europe/brent-renaud-irpin.html |access-date=March 13, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |title=U.S. 'Horrified' At Killing Of American Journalist Near Kyiv |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-us-jounalist-shot-dead/31750862.html |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}} Two other journalists were injured and taken to a hospital. One of them, {{ill|Juan Arredondo (journalist)|ca|Juan Arredondo|lt=Juan Arredondo}}, later said in a video published by an Italian journalist on Twitter that the journalists were filming civilians evacuating over one of the bridges in Irpin when they were targeted by soldiers who shot Renaud in the neck.{{cite news |title='They started shooting at us' – US journalist's colleague |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60717902?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=622e038aec502b53cd481fd6%26%27They%20started%20shooting%20at%20us%27%20-%20US%20journalist%27s%20colleague%262022-03-13T14%3A52%3A50.176Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:64993541-b8ae-4291-8961-338493a3a579&pinned_post_asset_id=622e038aec502b53cd481fd6&pinned_post_type=share |access-date=March 13, 2022 |work=BBC News |date=March 13, 2022 |language=en-gb}} It was the first reported death of a foreign journalist in the 2022 war in Ukraine.{{cite news |title=US journalist killed near Kyiv |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60717902?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=622df216980bea49f4b7c5cb%26US%20journalist%20killed%20near%20Kyiv%262022-03-13T14%3A10%3A42.983Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:d7dfbb99-369d-4f20-94a3-14808b47da8d&pinned_post_asset_id=622df216980bea49f4b7c5cb&pinned_post_type=share |access-date=March 13, 2022 |work=BBC News |date=March 13, 2022 }}

Filmography

Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing, 2009 documentary film directed by Brent and Craig Renaud[http://aff.bside.com/2009/films/warriorchampions_craigrenaud_aff2009;jsessionid=28B10C9524CF17C31215A7884225424E Warrior Champions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134209/http://aff.bside.com/2009/films/warriorchampions_craigrenaud_aff2009;jsessionid=28B10C9524CF17C31215A7884225424E |date=October 6, 2011 }}, Austin Film Festival{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2011/10/stockton_to_host_screening_of.html|title=Stockton to host screening of 'Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing'|work=NJ.com|date=October 2011}}
Off to War (series) (2004)
Dope Sick Love (2005) documentary film; directed by Felicia Conte, Brent Renaud, and Craig Renaud
Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later (2007) documentary film
Last Chance High (2015; series)
Meth Storm (2017)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUfNbNBFwRI Shelter] (2018) documentary film

References

External links

{{Official website}}
{{IMDb name}}
[https://www.democracynow.org/2022/3/14/brent_renaud_the_democracy_now_interviews Brent Renaud's Appearances] on Democracy Now!
[https://www.democracynow.org/2022/9/30/brent_renaud_documentary_cinema_new_york Brent Renaud, First U.S. Journalist Killed in Ukraine War, Honored at New NYC Documentary Cinema], Democracy Now!

Category:1971 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:American male journalists

Category:Assassinated American journalists

Category:American photojournalists

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American photographers

Category:21st-century American photographers

Category:American documentary film directors