Oscar-Nominated 'Restrepo' Director Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya

Tim Hetherington, Oscar-nominated co-director of 'Restrepo,' a documentary about the war in Afghanistan, died today while covering the war in Libya.

Hetherington was amongst a group of photographers shooting footage of the conflict in Misrata. The photojournalist and director was reportedly on assignment for the news agency Panos.

According to Reuters, "the photographers were among a group caught by mortar fire on Tripoli Street, the main thoroughfare leading into the center of Misrata, the only major rebel-held town in western Libya and besieged by Muammar Gaddafi's forces for more than seven weeks."

Getty photographer Chris Hondros was also in critical condition in intensive care.

Hetherington co-directed "Restrepo" with Sebastian Junger. The film chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, focusing on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military.

The 2010 film was nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards and received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Hetherington has filmed and photographed in war zones for over ten years, according to his bio on the "Restrepo" site. He lived behind rebel lines during the 2003 Liberian civil war in order to make the film "Liberia: an Uncivil War" and "worked for Human Rights Watch to uncover civilian massacres on the Chad / Darfur border in 2006," which became the subject of the documentary "The Devil Came on Horseback."

According to UK-based The Telegraph, the recently married Hetherington wrote on his Twitter profile last night: “In besieged Libyan city of Misurata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of Nato.”

To get a sense of what Hetherington was like, watch this promo piece from Sundance with Hetherington and co-director Sebastian Junger:

Watch the trailer for "Restrepo."