Customer Reviews

Dying to Tell the Story [VHS]

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I have used this video with my high school photography classes every year since its release. The students absolutely love it, and usually know by the end if a career in photojournalism is for them. I love the video because the journalists are 'real' in it. This past year as I showed this video, at about 8:45 Am in the morning while they are all half asleep, I told the students how it makes them understand what is happening in the rest of the world because we don't seen war zones here. At 9:00 another teacher ran in the room telling us to turn on the TV. The date was September 11, 2001. Needless to say, this video in combination with that tragedy taught my students far more than I ever intended nor would have wanted them to learn. We went from seeing it somewhere else, to seeing it here. I will continue to use this video as it is one of the best produced documentaries I've ever seen. If both a teacher and her high school students endorse it, you know it has to be good! I do know my little mini lectures I do to accompany it have changed. Never again will I watch it and say it doesn't happen here.

I saw this when it first aired on TBS and, for two hours, sat in awe (not to mention cried quite a bit). It was a fabulous documentary where well known photojournalists were interviewed. It explained to me a question I had always asked: 'why would anyone put themselves in such danger for a picture?' I recommed this highly. Dan Eldon's story is extraordinary and this is a beautiful tribute to him, done by his sister. Christian Bale's readings of Dan's journals are very well done as well, with the right emotions and feelings evident.

This is a splendid documentary about the efforts by photojournalists to cover wars. The focus on Dan Eldon is especially compelling and moving. His story and that of other journalists is riveting and beautifully told. It's a great reminder of the human cost of war and the value of journalism in bringing the stories of war out to the world. This is an important video for individuals in general, and it's essential viewing for young people in English, journalism, and world-affairs classrooms.

I teach high school journalism and have been using this as a teaching tool since it aired on TBS in 1998. There is nothing better to teach about conflict zones, photojournalists and how our world is impacted by their work. Dan Eldon was a young man whose life was like a meteor crashing into the ocean to create a tsunami of inspiration. His mother Kathy and sister Amy do an amazing job of continuing his legacy by their amazing works. If you teach journalism, art, photography, communication and or social studies, this film is for you. It is brilliant.