The Diplomat (2015 film)
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- Adam Vardy
- Bao Nguyen
- Jim Hurst
- Richard Dallett
| The Diplomat | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | David Holbrooke |
| Produced by | Stacey Reiss |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Seth Bomse |
| Music by | Graham Reynolds |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Home Box Office |
Release date |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Diplomat is a biographical documentary film released in 2015 about former U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose five-decade career began as a Foreign Service Officer in Vietnam during the war.[1] At the time of his death in December 2010, he was the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.[2] The documentary's perspective is from Holbrooke's son, David, who directed the film.
The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival[3] on April 23. Following the premiere, Director David Holbrooke and Producer Stacey Reiss participated in a Q&A session hosted by Katie Couric and featuring Roger Cohen and Ronan Farrow.[4] In addition to Tribeca, the film played at additional festivals and was screened for audiences across the United States and Europe. Some notable screenings included AFI Docs,[5] San Francisco International Film Festival,[6] Traverse City Film Festival,[7] Sarajevo Film Festival,[8] Jerusalem Film Festival,[9] and Telluride Mountainfilm.[10]
The documentary aired nationally on HBO on November 2, 2015, in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement which ended the Bosnian War.[11]
Cast
The film features interviews from "journalists and policy makers and military leaders"[12] such as Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Tom Donilon, Al Gore, Christopher R. Hill, John Kerry, Henry Kissinger, Ashraf Ghani, Doug Lute, David Petraeus, Samantha Power, Strobe Talbott, Dan Feldman, Barnett Rubin, Vali Nasr, and Rina Amiri.[13] Additionally, interviews from journalists who covered Holbrooke's career are included: Christiane Amanpour, Roger Cohen, Ronan Farrow, Dexter Filkins, Joe Klein, Stanley Karnow, George Packer, David Rohde, Diane Sawyer, and Bob Woodward. Also featured in the film is Anthony Holbrooke, Andrew Holbrooke, Litty Holbrooke, Les Gelb, Jim Johnson, Kati Marton, Frank Wisner, Kofi Annan, Mate Granic, Bakir Izetbegovic, Nancy Dupree, and Vladimir Lehovich.
Production
The film attempts to trace the diplomatic career of Holbrooke by visiting the places that shaped his career in government. Location shoots include Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, and Afghanistan.
The film was directed by David Holbrooke. His last film, Hard as Nails, aired on HBO in December 2007. Other documentaries include Freaks Like Me, Time for a New God and A Redwood Grows in Brooklyn. All are part of an ongoing series he created called "Original Thinkers."[citation needed]