Danger Zone

In the competitive world of tourism, there's very few experiences that are out of bounds. Danger Zone explores the world of war tourism, catering to a growing market for ever more rare and extreme experiences. Tourists are promised frontline action, with real ammo, real battles, and real danger.
War has become a luxury product, a commodity that can be bought and sold, and tour operators are desperate to get into the growing business. This morally ambiguous tourist industry leads to the collision of two very different worlds, between these thrill-seeking tourists and the people caught in the cross-hairs of conflict, who are not afforded the luxury and privilege of choice. Danger Zone asks: what are the tourists left with on reflection, is there a realisation of how lucky they are merely as a result of where they were born? Do those who inhabit conflict areas, through no choice of their own, perceive in these tourists a hope for a peaceful life? Or, is it purely a one-sided interaction where no one wins and no one learns?

"Why would you travel to a war zone if you didn’t have to? Maybe because you need an adrenaline kick? Rick from the US couldn’t get into the military so he came up with his own alternative. He set up a company, War Zone Tours, to organize trips to conflict areas. Andrew from the UK has been making similar trips for years. He travels around Somalia with AJ, a young man who seems barely aware of the life-threatening nature of the situations he’s voluntarily getting himself into.
Eleonora from Los Angeles visits Afghanistan hoping for a "raw, real, and rough" experience - the opposite of what she has at home. At first war seems like an exciting game to her, a way to escape an empty life. But once she gets there she talks about how scary she finds violence. Images of bloody attacks back up her stories.
As viewers, we become travel companions with the dual role of voyeur and participant. A smart road movie revealing what a luxury it is to know war as merely a spectacle."
(IDFA - International Documentary Festival Amsterdam)