U.S. Journalist’s Final Frame: Armed Only With a Camera Chronicles Brent Renaud’s Life and Legacy

August 29, 2025 – USA – 

A powerful and intimate new documentary titled Armed Only With a Camera, directed by Craig Renaud and produced by photojournalist Juan Arredondo, pays tribute to the life and tragic death of award‑winning American journalist Brent Renaud. Brent was the first U.S. journalist killed during the Russia‑Ukraine war, gunned down on 13 March 2022 by Russian soldiers while filming an independent documentary in Irpin, Ukraine. Arredondo was seriously wounded in the ambush but survived.

The film premiered at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, receiving widespread acclaim before later winning the Audience Award at SXSW. It will be available for streaming on HBO beginning 21 October 2025.

Armed Only With a Camera masterfully interweaves Brent’s poignant final footage—including scenes captured in his last moments—with archival material from the brothers’ decades of reporting across conflict zones, such as Haiti, the U.S.–Mexico border, and Ukraine. The narrative draws upon the deep professional bond between Brent and Craig, who collaborated for more than twenty years, and spotlights the emotional weight of Craig’s journey to Ukraine to retrieve his brother’s body and footage.

Beyond honoring Brent’s career, the film underscores a broader, cruel truth: journalism has rarely been more dangerous. The Committee to Protect Journalists labeled this period “the deadliest time to tell the truth,” noting at least 124 journalists were killed in 2024—most in Gaza—a tragic record that eclipses even the Iraq war’s toll.

To preserve Brent’s enduring impact, Craig and his family have launched the Brent Renaud Foundation, designed to mentor emerging storytellers and support the next generation of journalists in conflict zones

Reference – 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/29/brent-renaud-armed-only-camera-documentary