"Restrepo" filmmaker's HBO documentary highlights life of friend Tim Hetherington, killed while reporting in Libya

(CBS News) Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's documentary "Restrepo" told the story of U.S. soldiers at an isolated outpost in Afghanistan. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011.

Two months after the Oscars, Hetherington was killed documenting the rebel struggle in Libya.

Now, Junger is focusing on the life and work of his remarkable friend in the HBO documentary -- named after something Hetherington said -- entitled "Which Way is the Front Line from Here?"

Junger spoke with Hetherington's parents, his girlfriend, co-workers and others for the documentary. Junger said of his own time with Hetherington, "We were in a lot of combats together out at Restrepo in eastern Afghanistan. I remember Tim saying to me, 'One of the least interesting things about combat is combat. It's very dramatic, but it's actually not that interesting.' And what he found interesting was the emotions out there, the relationships between the men. There were 20 men on an isolated hilltop for a year. And it really became just a very strange tight-type family."

Junger said photography was "almost not the point" of Hetherington's work. "Like what he wanted to do was engage with people," Junger explained. "And by the way, he'd take their photo, almost as an afterthought. And he was a brilliant photographer. I think that's what made him brilliant. He wasn't trying to take images from people. He was trying to have a relationship even for 30 seconds. And that brought out the really deep humanity in everyone and his camera caught that."

For more with Junger on the HBO documentary -- to air Thursday -- and his own relationship with documenting war, watch the video above.