Ben Anderson
Ben has been reporting from conflict zones around the world for over two decades, making groundbreaking films on the wars in Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Congo, amongst many others.
Anderson began his career as an undercover reporter; producing exposés on topics as varied as corruption in the funeral business (this film won a Rory Peck award) the abuse of the mentally ill in care homes, the civil war in Burma and the exploitation and abuse of young models in the fashion industry. He went on to present numerous films and series for the BBC, where he worked for 12 years. Highlights include Holidays in the Axis of Evil, Taking on the Taliban, The Violent Coast and Frontline Football.
Anderson has produced, filmed, and directed hard-hitting feature-length documentaries, including The Battle for Marjah, for HBO, which won a History Makers Award, a Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Award and was nominated for three Emmys. Ben’s feature documentary, This is What Winning Looks Like, won the Prix Bayeux Award, the Frontline Club Award and was a finalist for the Rory Peck Award. His VICE on HBO special, Fighting ISIS, won an Emmy in 2016. He was a Senior Producer and Correspondent on the series, VICE on HBO, which won two Emmys and was nominated for 5 more. There, he made films on the drug wars of Rio, the Saudi war on Yemen, the defeat of ISIS, the resurgence of the Taliban and multiple films about the wars in Africa. His last film for VICE on HBO was about MDMA assisted therapy, which he did as part of the film, in an attempt to treat his PTSD.
His Book, No Worse Enemy, was released to critical acclaim in 2012 and predicted the collapse of the Afghan Government to the Taliban, a decade before it happened. His e-book, The Interpreters was released in 2014. He’s currently working on a book about radical treatments for PTSD and depression, a Chris Smith directed series for Apple, a feature doc on Afghanistan for HBO and a movie about the four decades’ long battle to get MDMA assisted therapy legalized, with three time Oscar nominated Director Jonas Rasmussen and Participant Pictures. He was also Executive Producer on Beyond the Wire, a feature doc about Marie Colvin’s death in Syria, and The One Armed Chef, hosted by the photographer and humanitarian Giles Duley, who is also a triple amputee. Anderson and Duley are currently making a second series with Angelina Jolie as co-host and Executive Producer. Ben is also making a series with star Chef Kwame Onwuachi.
Anderson has also won the Foreign Press award and was twice a finalist for the Royal Television Society Young Journalist of the Year award and for the Prix Europa. In addition to writing for The New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire, The London Review of Books and GQ, he’s appeared often on Morning Joe, CBS News, BBC, NPR, Joe Rogan and Charlie Rose.
