The art of storytelling (aka journalism/media), whether it’s told through print, photography, film, or any other medium, has the chance to capture history, propel ideas, highlight innovation, and bring facts into the limelight. Sometimes the story behind the story is the first to hit the cutting room floor, but then there are times when those stories are just as important or inspiring as the original subject matter.

Taking an in-depth and truthful view on those who risk everything to get a story out to the world, HBO’s new documentary series, Witness, follows photojournalists as they enter conflict zones around the world and capture the stories of those whose lives are impacted by the turmoil surrounding them and the possible consequences that follow by doing so.

In it’s most recent segment, filmmakers join French photojournalist Véronique de Viguerie on her trip back to South Sudan as she covers the fight against Joseph Kony.  Fascinated by people who decide to say “Stop. I don’t want to be a victim anymore. I am going to fight,” she travels the wilderness with the arrow boys, a voluntary militia of farmers who have taken action into their own hands to protect their families from the LRA.

After traveling to South Sudan back in May 2011 on assignment for UNICEF, she first heard of the arrow boys after a translator explained to her who they were and she met with them soon after. On this journey, she saw an opportunity “to carry on the story with better means and much more time.” As she explains the difficulty of balancing the line of being a journalist and a human, Véronique immerses herself in the daily struggles and issues of the locals who often feel forgotten and continues to cover the pursuit of the LRA by photographing the Ugandan Army on their trek into South Sudan.

Unlike traditional news coverage, Witness does not present an objective perspective on the issues; it shows the personal experience of those on the ground.

– Juan Frausto

(Photo credit: HBO, The New Yorker)