Behind the Lines (2024)

Behind the Lines (2024) poster

In John B. Benitz’s documentary Behind the Lines, you might end up questioning whether history should just be written by historians. Based on Andrew Carroll’s New York Times best seller Letters of a Nation, Behind the Lines, and War Letters and inspired by a subsequent stage play, Benitz’s film tells the story of Carroll’s life mission to travel the world seeking out war letters. Over the past 25 years, he has preserved more than 200,000 correspondences from troops, veterans and their families, dating from the American Revolution to present day Ukraine. In Behind the Lines, we accompany Carroll on his continuing quest; one of fact finding but also tremendously emotional. This is captured evocatively when letters written by soldiers, some of whom having lost their lives only a day after having written them, are read by various actors such as Laura Dern and Gary Cole. The film is narrated by Annette Bening. – Adam Schartoff

Director: John Benitz
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 107 min
Release Date:
Country: Germany, Poland, Ukraine, United States of America
Language: English
Original Language: en
More Films by Director: John Benitz
More Films in Genre: Documentary

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Behind the Lines about?
In John B. Benitz’s documentary Behind the Lines, you might end up questioning whether history should just be written by historians. Based on Andrew Carroll’s New York Times best seller Letters of a Nation, Behind the Lines, and War Letters and inspired by a subsequent stage play, Benitz’s film tells the story of Carroll’s life mission to travel the world seeking out war letters. Over the past 25 years, he has preserved more than 200,000 correspondences from troops, veterans and their families, dating from the American Revolution to present day Ukraine. In Behind the Lines, we accompany Carroll on his continuing quest; one of fact finding but also tremendously emotional. This is captured evocatively when letters written by soldiers, some of whom having lost their lives only a day after having written them, are read by various actors such as Laura Dern and Gary Cole. The film is narrated by Annette Bening. – Adam Schartoff
Who directed Behind the Lines?
Behind the Lines was directed by John Benitz.
How long is Behind the Lines?
Behind the Lines has a runtime of 1h 47m (107 minutes).
What genre is Behind the Lines?
Behind the Lines is a Documentary film.
Where was Behind the Lines produced?
Behind the Lines was produced in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, United States of America.