Director Matthew Heineman’s latest documentary captures the final months of the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan. The film begins by covering the story of a group of Green Berets supporting the Afghan National Army. Once they are ordered to pull out, an operation referred to as “retrograde,” Heineman then focuses the film on a young Afghan general, General Sami Sadat, who is desperately fighting to protect his country from a Taliban takeover.

Produced by National Geographic, Retrograde launched at Telluride and was nominated for Best Political Documentary at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. The film also won the Producing Award at DOC NYC Feature and is on the shortlist for an Oscar nomination. The documentary feature is available for streaming on Disney+.

In military parlance, the term retrograde can mean several things, among them withdrawal from a war zone, but the ambiguity of the title is calculated.

“It’s a historical document of this final chapter in the war in Afghanistan,” the director tells Sophia A. McClennen at Salon. “It’s also an allegorical tale for a dynamic that has happened throughout history and will continue to happen long in the future: going into a country to fight a war, then leaving the country, and the effect that process has on everyone involved.”

READ MORE: “Taking sides is not my job”: “Retrograde” filmmaker Matthew Heineman on documenting a war’s end (Salon)

Heineman is known for his Oscar-nominated doc Cartel Land and his narrative feature A Private War. He has also made docs about ISIS in Syria, the opioid crisis, and human trafficking. Each time, he explains, “I try to take this large complex subject that has already been framed by news headlines and stats and humanize it. I try to put a human face to it. And that’s certainly what I try to do with Retrograde.”

The intimacy and access in Retrograde resulted from a tenacious effort to embed with US Army Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets. The access was enabled by producing partner Caitlin McNally, but even then the process took years to be approved by the Pentagon.

By the time that happened, the United States was preparing to exit Afghanistan. Two months after the film crew landed in Afghanistan, President Biden pulled out the troops.

Heineman didn’t know what to do. “I have no film here,” he related to IndieWire’s Anne Thompson. “We’d been shooting for two months, and there’s no real arc to what’s happening.”

READ MORE: The Documentarian Who Doesn’t Know How to Stop Putting Himself in Danger (IndieWire)

“It wasn’t a fait accompli that the Afghans were going to lose to the Taliban at that point, so there was a sort of blank of where this story was going to go,” he told Stephen Saito at Moveable Feast.

READ MORE: Matthew Heineman on Moving a Conversation Forward with “Retrograde” (Moveable Feast)

The filmmakers decided that Afghan General Sadat could emerge as a central character, and he agreed to cooperate. “We completely pivoted the film to focus on him and look at the end of the war through his eyes,” Heineman told Thompson.

The film vividly conveys the feelings of the Green Berets and their Afghan allies after President Biden’s announcement.

“There’s a scene in the film where they tell their Afghan counterparts that they’re leaving,” Heineman tells Matthew Carey at Deadline. “It’s quite a poignant scene where their faces all say more than words can ever say. That motif of faces was something that was very purposeful in the shooting of the film and the cutting of the film, really holding on faces for a really long time.”

READ MORE: Matthew Heineman Returns To Oscar Race With ‘Retrograde,’ Searing Doc On U.S. Military’s Last Months In Afghanistan, And What Happened Next (Deadline)

He could have created a series: Heineman returned to the editing room with 1,300 hours of footage. Instead, he edited the story to 94 taut minutes.

Speaking again to Salon, he adds, “In interviews, people can lie, either because they’re nervous or they want to spin a narrative. But faces don’t lie. That explains the motif that we developed both in the field and also in the editing room of holding on faces for a really long time.”

Some critics have noted that the film looks slick, with a sheen and a composition that wouldn’t look out of place, in say, Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down.

Variety’s Peter Debruge, for example, notes that Heinman “brings back hi-def vérité footage that looks sharper and more artfully framed than most Hollywood features.”

READ MORE: ‘Retrograde’ Review: Matthew Heineman Risks His Neck to Record America’s Exit From Afghanistan (Variety)

“Am I supposed to not hone my craft and grow as an artist?” Heineman responds to Salon. “To me, the aesthetics are really important. My goal always at every step along the way, is I want you to feel what it’s like to be in the control room as you’re calling in an airstrike or drone strike. I want you to feel like what it’s like to be in a Blackhawk helicopter as rockets are being shot at you. I want you to feel what it’s like to go to the front lines of a war zone as your country is crumbling and there’s a lack of communication and information.”

Heinman put himself in some life threatening situations but denies being an adrenaline junkie. “I’m not drawn to the danger,” he tells IndieWire. “I’m drawn to people who have big stakes. I don’t enjoy being shot at.. I guess I am drawn, but I’m not quite sure exactly why.”

READ IT ON AMPLIFY: Filmmaking Community: How “The Territory” Put Its Subjects Behind the Camera

READ IT ON AMPLIFY: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed:” Art and Activism (on Both Sides of the Camera)

He recounted the filming of a scene where he’s backseat in a helicopter in a particularly dangerous area. The Taliban began firing. He tells Dano Nissen at The Knockturnal, “When you’re in the helicopter and rockets are being shot at you there is no object button. There is no I want to go home. You are there. You’re in it.”

He continued, “In those situations the only thing I have agency over is my camera. And that is what I choose to focus on. I focus on framing and exposure. I’m mixing sound when I’m filming. Those are things I can control. If I’m going to risk my life to get a scene I’m going to get it right.”

READ MORE: “Retrograde” Director on Filming Under Fire in Afghanistan (The Knockturnal)

Accompanying Heineman were veteran combat cinematographers Timothy Grucza and Olivier Sarbil, supported by field producers and translators, but the scenes depicting the chaotic and hazardous exodus from Kabul airport were shot by just Grucza and Heinman alone.

“Never in my career have I ever felt something as strong as what I felt being at the Abbey Gate as thousands of Afghan civilians were desperately trying to flee, and as 18-year-old Marines, who weren’t even alive during 911, were making these impossible ‘Sophie’s Choice’ decisions on who to let in and who not to,” he relates to Moveable Feast. “The Taliban was watching at gunpoint a hundred yards away, as ISIS was circling around us in suicide vests, waiting to attack, which happened 12 hours later in that very spot. All I could think about was, ‘What have we done here?’ ”

Of course, he could escape with his American passport back home to NYC. He understands the privilege of his circumstance and the responsibility that comes with it.

“On one level, I think the film is a historical record of this turning point in history, but it’s also an attempt to get people to care and feel just a little bit more and understand this conflict in a way they might not have otherwise.”

To Salon, he adds, “I think the film is a living, breathing document of the massive chasm between the ideological reasons for going to war and the reality of those who are actually fighting it in real time.”

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Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn says that the characters in his new Netflix series, Copenhagen Cowboy, are a “female evolution” of characters from previous projects such as Drive, Valhalla Rising and Only God Forgives.

So, that could only mean one thing: stylized ultra-violence.

“I’ve done films in the past with a certain type of character that was first played by Mads Mikkelsen in Valhalla Rising on one hand and then Ryan Gosling played him as a driver in Drive and then Vithaya [Pansringarm] played him as a lieutenant in Only God Forgives,” Refn explained during the Venice Film Festival premiere of the series, as reported by Diana Lodderhose at Deadline.

Copenhagen Cowboy is his take on a superhero show. He continued, “So, I was working with Robert Wade and Neal Purvis, on a larger female evolution of that character and then suddenly one night, I was like, ‘Maybe I should try to do a version of it as female and not just one but many.’ And that was the kind of aspiration to do it.”

READ MORE: ‘Copenhagen Cowboy’: Nicolas Winding Refn Says Netflix Series Is A “Female Evolution” Of Characters From ‘Valhalla Rising,’ Drive’ And ‘Only God Forgives’ (Deadline)

Dubbed by critics as a neon-noir or acid western, though described by the Danish filmmaker as “poetic neo-noir,” the series, which launched on January 5, revolves around a young heroine called Miu (Angela Bundalovic) on a search for justice after a lifetime of servitude.

“I think that the [superhero] genre, like fairy tales… it’s a reflection of us as a society and it mirrors our desires and it’s our fantasies and it’s everything that’s really interesting because it’s heightened reality,” Refn noted.

It’s not for everyone.

“[Y]our enjoyment of Copenhagen Cowboy will go as far as you can tolerate Refn’s visual aesthetic,” Sean Price writes in his review for The Spool. “The primary colors that paint the entire frame with a neon glow, the pulsing Cliff Martinez score, and of course, the Miami Vice font.”

But even Price acknowledges the show’s vibe is not without its virtues.

“There may not be substance behind the style, but it goes a long way when your style includes Cliff Martinez,” whose score he says “does most of the emotional heavy lifting” for Copenhagen Cowboy.

READ MORE: Nicolas Winding Refn returns to Denmark for a surreal journey of revenge in Copenhagen Cowboy (The Spool)

Fleeing Hollywood for Freedom

The show is shot in Denmark, is produced by his wife Liv Corfixen, and also features his daughters Lola and Lizzielou Corfixen. It’s also a product of the pandemic and streaming’s content creation boom.

Refn told Deadline‘s Crew Call podcast that he pitched the idea to the newly formed Netflix Nordic when he “really didn’t know how the world was going to turn out.” The Netflix Nordic was sold on the idea of a new narrative borne out The Pusher trilogy, and after a five-month stint with an all female writing team, Copenhagen Cowboy was brought to set.

“We had a great crew and, in a way, there is something very easy about working in the Scandinavian model because we are not so many people and I like that kind of smaller components of productions and so forth. It was just very pleasant.”

In an interview with Anthony D’Alessandro for Deadline, Refn was asked if he ever considered making a mainstream superhero project.

“I’ve always cherished my independence,” he replied. “I think waking up in the morning and going to work and paint the way you want it to look and go home, is still the most satisfying experience ever.

“If you don’t have the power of control at the end of the day or the ability to manipulate into your favor, it is committee. You have to spend your entire day struggling to get a compromise across, then what example am I to my own kids?”

He also added that he thought the studio system is not in good shape, commenting, “Hollywood is very seductive and intoxicating, but it’s also a system that’s falling apart desperately,” Refn said. “And I think they’re doing it to themselves more than anything else.”

Making a Netflix Hit and Surviving for Season 2

A cynic might wonder if Refn’s analysis of Hollywood is in some way influenced by studios that are less apt to write him a blank check for a niche production. The Ringer’s Miles Surrey describes his previous lavish budgets as “a blank check that came out of nowhere and wasn’t necessarily earned.”

Surrey writes, “Whether or not Refn moved to the small screen because he was no longer finding any takers for his feature films, his divisive style is an intriguing fit for the stretched-out length of a TV show.”

But Refn’s Netflix Nordic endeavor seems a bit more right-sized to Surrey. He writes, “Copenhagen Cowboy should be more accessible—and presumably far cheaper to produce—than Refn’s grand Amazon experiment” (meaning his 13-hour Too Old to Die Young).

None of these comments mean that Surrey is panning the show, however. “This is as challenging as television can get, and while it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no denying that Refn is utterly singular in his image making. To appreciate a Refn project like Copenhagen Cowboy is to accept that, sometimes, style wins out over substance.”

READ MORE: The Singular Nicolas Winding Refn Experience Arrives on Netflix (The Ringer)

But even Netflix and its competitors are getting more ruthless, and it will be interesting to see if the streamer deems the show a success and, therefore, worthy of a second season.

“[T]he way the story leaves off, it’s clear these six chapters have been planned as part of a multi-season arc, should the Netflix gods be feeling generous,” notes The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han.

Collider’s Chase Hutchinson is a fan of the unconventional series, who never the less isn’t holding out a lot of hope for continuing Miu’s storyline: “[T]he series is, to be frank, rather unlikely to find the broadest of audiences which is crucial in a ruthless streaming world ruled increasingly by metrics. Still, no matter what happens in the future, the mere presence of such a show is worth celebrating.”

For Refn’s part, it’s clear he hasn’t gone all-in on a streaming-centric model. He told reporters, “I don’t think theatrical [cinema] will ever go away. I think theatrical will always exist, but it needs to be challenged in order to become better, more sufficient and more meaningful.”

READ MORE: Nicolas Winding Refn On Saddling Up Netflix Noir Series ‘Copenhagen Cowboy’ & How “Theatrical Will Always Exist” But Hollywood System Is “Falling Apart” (Deadline)

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Currently streaming on Disney+, Andor is a much more substantial series with genuine emotional depth — so it may not appeal to all Star Wars fans.

2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story made the mildly devoted Star Wars fan take another look at the universe. Making two seasons of an episodic filling out the prequel story promised more of the same devotion and the vital backstory we wondered about.

The great news is that this is exactly what has happened with Andor. The Playlist’s Rodrigo Perez talks for all of us new devotees, writing, “A much more adult, serious, dirtier, and complicated look at the Star Wars galaxy and what living under an oppressive regime does to its populace; centering on one of its leads, Rebel Alliance Captain and spy Cassian Andor.”

READ MORE: ‘Andor’ Review: Tony Gilroy Doubles Down On ‘Rogue One & ‘Star Wars’ For Adults In Engaging Spy Thriller About Tyranny (The Playlist)

Showrunner and creator Tony Gilroy explains where Andor sits in the Stars Wars timeline. “It rewinds back five years from the events of Rogue One to follow Cassian Andor on his journey to get to the movie. He’s the one person that the whole Rebel Alliance is going to trust with this assignment. So, he’s the tip of the spear. How did he get to be the tip of the spear? How did he get to have all of the skills that are required for that?”

With the advent of streaming, the ability to do a series that could potentially answer those questions by examining the untold story of the formative years of the Rebellion and the personal history of the hero who gave his life for the cause became more of a reality.

“We’ve done 12 episodes for the first season. The 12 episodes that we’ve done cover one year in time. We’re going to do another twelve that are going to take us over the next four years into Rogue One.”

In a series of interviews, Gilroy and his editor brother, John Gilroy, spill on the intensity of the work involved and how naive they were going in, which ironically helped them cope.

“Scripts just have to be dead tight, just dead tight,” Tony said to Maggie Lovitt at Collider. “I was so naive at the very beginning. I don’t know. I mean, when I think back, what I didn’t know when we started is shocking to me. Really, it’s like I said before, it’s like having kids. If you knew what it was going to be, you wouldn’t do it. Once you do it, you’re like, Oh my God.”

READ MORE: ‘Andor’s Creator Tony Gilroy on When Season 2 Begins Production, Cassian’s Destiny and ‘Rogue One’ (Collider)

Brother John, who edited four episodes (and was the finisher on the rest), also saw the strength of scripts that were watertight, as he told Sarah Shachat, host of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit” podcast.  “Finding the tempo of the show was really not hard in the cutting room because a lot of it was written and executed so well,” he said.

In fact, there were no scenes that weren’t used in the show. John even joked that there wouldn’t be any DVD extras as there was nothing left to use. “The better the scripts, the less you’re going to have to invent later,” he concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Andor’ Swapped Two Scenes — and It Sparked a Rebel’s Emotional Fire (IndieWire)

John explained to Iain Blair at Post Perspective how the show wasn’t relatable in size to any other medium, film or linear television. “I’ve been on big movies editing for a year, but this was like doing four movies in two years. It was huge, with a lot more people on the post team and a lot more editors — seven in addition to me. You work the same way as a movie, but you delegate more, and there are a lot of moving parts. You’re always overlapping with one or two or more blocks at a time, so there’s a lot of place-setting,” he said.

“They put a lot of money into this, but not as much as in a big feature, so the way you make up for that is that the TV schedules are longer. All the VFX shots took a very long time, but we had more time to get it all right. It’s the same thing with the sound. The sound crew is smaller, but all the prep is far more spread out.”

READ MORE: Andor Editor/Producer John Gilroy Talks Post Workflow (Post Perspective)

During an episode of “The Rogue Ones: A Star Wars Andor Podcast,” John described his work practice and how he cut his episodes together. “For me it’s a feel, it’s instinctual. When I’m cutting a show I’m actually watching it in super slow motion kind of. It’s like watching a glacier move, but it’s moving in my head as I’m building it,” he said.

“It might be one of my superpowers but I can watch something over and over again and I’m really good at keeping my bearings and keeping objective,” he added. “You’ve also got to know when it’s done and not walk past the truth, I think I have a pretty good sense of that. There’s so much work to do but you could mess about with something forever, I’ve seen people do it, believe me.”

READ MORE: ‘Andor’: Editor John Gilroy Talks Being ‘Rogue One’ Fixer & Building ‘Andor’ From The Ground Up [The Rogue Ones Podcast] (The Playlist)

Speaking to Shachat on the IndieWire “Filmmaker Toolkit” podcast, the brothers discussed the score and how “spotting it,” or cueing the score, was so important.

“We had to learn how to spot differently on this than we had been trained to do making movies. If you spot normally a lot of times you can have a scene, say an eight page scene and you spot it like a movie and you put good music too soon all of a sudden the scene just disappears, it just washes out,” Tony said.

He challenged the music fans to watch how late they spotted. John agreed that the scenes were longer and you didn’t want to run out of gas. “You feel that it’s sometimes better when it’s dry for the first few minutes,” he said.

But less definitive was the process of dealing with so much content that needed editing, and were there options for each shot to deal with as well? “It’s the kind of shooting plan they would have on a big movie. But on a big movie they would have four shooting plans or at least a back-up. They would then shoot the crap out of it,” Tony said.

“Ours is the opposite of that and is very specific,” he continued. “We were always trying to find points of entry to start us off. Like the gloves on the wall in Ferrix, where you would hang them after working a shift. In your imagination that’s where your father or your mother hanged their gloves before you. It was that obsessiveness we were after that slowly built-out their culture.”

The Playlist’s Perez sums up what this gem of a Star Wars episodic means to him, and encourages everyone to watch it, even super-fans. “If Andor is slow to start, it ignites with fury in episodes three and four, paving the way to a show that, so far, feels gripping in its tension and resolve,” he writes in his review.

“It’s debatable if the series will be embraced universally by all Star Wars fans, but if you’ve been disenchanted by most of the Disney-era Lucasfilm projects — or at least craving something more substantive with depth — Andor is likely a provocative one that will light a fire under you, and compel you to sit up and take notice.”

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