''Drone'' is a 2014 English-language documentary film directed by Norwegian director

Tonje Hessen Schei Tonje Hessen Schei is a Norwegian film director, producer and screenwriter. She has directed the documentary film ''DRONE'' and ''Play Again'', and has directed and produced the films ''Independent Intervention'' and ''iHuman''. She produced ''P ...

. The film explores the use of drones in warfare. ''Drone'' aired on the TV network

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on , 2014. The documentary screened at several film festivals throughout 2014, winning several awards. ''Drone'' was released in Norway on , 2015.

Premise

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'' reported, "'Drone' depicts the recruitment of young pilots at gaming conventions, explores the changing perceptions of what 'going to war' means, as well as the moral stance of engineers behind the technology. The docu also investigates the ways in which world leaders engage in wars, as well as look at the struggle of anti-war and civil rights activists."

Production

''Drone'' was produced by Lars Løge at Flimmer Film and directed by Tonje Hessen Schei. The film received financial support from backers in Norway and from around the world.

Release

Theatrical screenings

The sales outfit LevelK acquired ''Drone'' at the Nordic Film Market at the

Gothenburg Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...

in January 2014. A 58-minute cut of ''Drone'' premiered on the TV network

on , 2014. A 79-minute cut was edited for subsequent screenings. In October 2014, ''Drone'' screened at the

Bergen International Film Festival The Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) is a film festival held annually in October in Bergen, Norway since 2000, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films. The festival celebrated its 20th edition in 2019, featuring ...

and won Best Norwegian Documentary and the Checkpoint Human Rights awards. In January 2015, it screened at the

Tromsø International Film Festival The Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) is an annual film festival held during the third week of January in Tromsø, Norway. The inaugural Tromsø International Film Festival was held in 1991. TIFF has 5 screening venues, including one ...

and won the Norwegian Peace Film Award. In the following February, LevelK sold distribution rights to ''Drone'' to several major territories. ''Drone'' was released in Norway on , 2015. It was released in the United Kingdom on , 2015.

Critical reception

John DeFore, reviewing for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', called ''Drone'' "an important contribution to debates over a means of warfare that is just in its infancy". DeFore said the documentary had an "effective and clear-headed" presentation of "multiple sides of the debate". The critic concluded, "''Drone'' takes a quick look at realities of the warfare industry and asks the obvious question: How will Americans feel when another government (or non-governmental entity) has remote-controlled death hovering constantly over ''our'' heads?"

References

External links

* * *{{cite web , url=http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/20/exclusive_2_air_force_vets_speak , title=Exclusive: 2 Air Force Vets Speak Out for First Time on Why They Want the Drone War to Stop , accessdate= - an interview with those in the documentary at ''

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'' 2014 documentary films Norwegian documentary films Documentary films about military aviation Drone warfare Documentary films about robots 2010s English-language films