Documentary Film Series: Covering Conflict – Journalists on the Ground "No Ordinary Life"

Please join us for a screening of the documentary film No Ordinary Life: The Camerawomen Who Brought the Frontlines to the Headlines (2021). In a field dominated by men, five pioneering camerawomen Mary Rogers, Cynde Strand, Jane Evans, Maria Fleet and Margaret Moth went to the frontlines of wars, revolutions, and disasters to bring us the truth. As colorful as accomplished, these brave photojournalists made their mark by capturing some of the most iconic images from Tiananmen Square, to conflicts in Sarajevo, Iraq, Somalia and the Arab Spring uprising. In the midst of unfolding chaos, the pictures they took both shocked and informed the world. This feature documentary by director Heather O’Neill tells their remarkable story.

The film will be introduced by Cynde Strand, one of the five featured journalists, and she will answer questions following the screening. Strand started her career in journalism in 1981 as an entry level “video journalist” at CNN in Atlanta. Today she is an award-winning journalist with 40 years of experience in international news gathering, including investigative and documentary work.

For more than 20 years, Strand traveled the world as a CNN cameraperson assigned to bureaus in Beirut, Beijing, Nicosia, London, and Johannesburg. Strand covered major stories including the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown, the first Gulf War based in Baghdad, the first free and democratic election in South Africa, the siege of Sarajevo, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and famine in Somalia. In 2004 Strand returned to Atlanta to join the team running international news coverage for CNN. 

Strand served as CNN’s executive director of coverage for international news. In this role, she oversaw the news gathering efforts of more than 20 international bureaus. Strand directed coverage during breaking news and managed some of CNN’s biggest and most challenging stories including the rise and fall of ISIS. She also had a lead role in managing stories with legal complexities and sensitive content. She oversaw security for assignments in hostile environments and as CNN recognized the impact of PTSD on employees both in the field and on news desk, Strand took a lead role in organizing help and support for employees worldwide.

Strand retired from CNN in 2019 but returned temporarily as part of the team directing CNN’s coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and later the Israel Hamas war.

Cynde Strand has won many industry awards including 7 Emmys. She teaches journalism at the university level and has developed a course on the history of women in journalism.