National Bird

Story

Documentary Death comes from above: unnoticed, combat drones glide through the sky, take aim at their target – and shoot. They’re seen as wonder weapons of modern warfare. Three whistleblowers Heather, Lisa and Daniel tell a different story about the USA’s secret combat drone programme. It was their job to analyse recordings made by drones over Afghanistan and decide whether an attack would endanger civilian lives. “Who ends up living or dying, you can’t say. At the end of the day, all you know is what you see on a two-dimensional screen.” National Bird is the brilliantly researched reality behind the illusion of clean warfare.

Director

Sonia Kennebeck was born in Malaysia and grew up in Hamburg. After studying politics, she worked as a journalist and film-maker for NDR, ARD and CNN. National Bird is her first long documentary with Errol Morris and Wim Wenders as Executive Producers.