| Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud | |
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| Distributed by | HBO Max |
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Running time | 37 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud is a 2025 American documentary short film, directed by Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud. The film presented by HBO Documentary Films, chronicles the years Craig Renaud and his brother Brent Renaud who was killed on March 13, 2022, spent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts. [1]
It had its world premiere in the Documentary Short Competition at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 9, 2025.
It was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards. [2] [3]
The film follows the story of American filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud, who was killed on March 13, 2022, while reporting on the war in Ukraine. After his death, his brother and longtime collaborator, Craig Renaud, brought Brent’s body and his final footage back to their home state of Arkansas. As this journey unfolds, the documentary looks back on the brothers’ years covering dangerous events around the world.
It features vérité footage from their reporting in Iraq with the Arkansas National Guard, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the conflict in Somalia, migration routes from Honduras to the United States, and Brent’s final work in Ukraine. The film highlights Brent’s commitment to documenting the human cost of war and crisis, showing both the risks he faced and the compassion he brought to his work. Presented as a tribute to Brent and to frontline journalists, the film underscores the importance and growing danger of reporting from conflict zones.
Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud had its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 9, 2025 in Documentary Short Competition. [4]
It had its East Coast Premiere in Short program at the DC/DOX on June 15, 2025. [5] [6]
It was presented at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in documentary shorts on October 14, 2025. [7]
It was made available to stream on HBO Max on October 21, 2025. [1]
On November 14, 2025, it was screened in the Short List Shorts: Family Album at Doc NYC along with other three films. [8]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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| South by Southwest | March 15, 2025 | Audience Award Documentary Short | Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud | Won | [9] |
| Cinema Eye Honors | January 8, 2026 | Outstanding Non-Fiction Short | Shortlisted | [10] [11] | |