“It was by far the hardest film I’ve ever made”: Matthew Heineman on National Geographic documentary Retrograde

Retrograde is the new National Geographic documentary from award-winning director Matthew Heineman that takes as its subject the final months of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan. The filmmaker is no stranger to tough material, whether Mexican drug wars in 2015’s Cartel Land, atrocities committed by ISIS in 2017’s City of Ghosts, the healthcare workers on the frontline during the first months of the pandemic in The First Wave (2021) or the exploits of war journalist Marie Colvin in his first fictional film, A Private War (2018). Yet capturing in unflinching detail the days leading up to and in the aftermath of the US military withdrawal at president Joe Biden’s bidding nonetheless emerges as quietly devastating, throwing up many a question about how the West involves itself in conflicts in the Middle East and the nature and necessity of war itself.

He captures in an almost uncannily cinematic manner the people and humanity behind the news headlines – apparently, one viewer asked Heineman after a screening about his “cast”, assuming his film was a dramatisation rather than journalistic documentary – whether with some affection the American soldiers who’ve so long been dedicated to their task and Afghan associates, the increasingly desperate Afghan soldiers who fear for their lives and country (led by the unerringly composed General Sami Sadat) or the ordinary people who then must watch their reality collapse around them as the last planes take the lucky few who were able to escape what would come next: the takeover of the Taliban. With no talking heads or narration, this is not an overtly politicised film, but rather provides a window through which we can and must see for ourselves the reality of the consequences of war with frightening clarity.

The Upcoming had the privilege of speaking with the filmmaker who talked about watching the situation change and evolve through the making of the film, and the powerful yet heartwrenching moments he bore witness to, caught on camera as the US troops prepared to leave while Afghan troops faced the Taliban with almost no resources. We also discussed the genre of documentaries and their role in humanising stories behind the headlines and how, despite having tackled many a harrowing subject, moments of filming Retrograde were some of the most challenging for the director.

Sarah Bradbury

Retrograde is released in select cinemas on 11^th November 2022. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for Retrograde here: