National Geographic Entertainment (NGE) has acquired US rights to Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s war documentary Restrepo.

The acquisition marks the first since Daniel Battsek arrived as president of National Geographic Films and was negotiated with UTA Independent. NGE has set a July 2 release.

Restrepo premiered at Sundance where it earned the grand jury prize for documentary and follows the daily lives of a US platoon in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley as they clash several times a day with the Taliban. The film-makers dug in with the 15-man team from May 2007-July 2008.

Restrepo is an Outpost Films Production in association with National Geographic Channel. John Battsek and Nick Quested served as executive producers.

Earlier this year National Geographic Channel acquired worldwide television rights to Restrepo, which will premiere globally on the network in autumn.

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