The Diplomat

We’ve always said we keep good company. And our friend David Holbrooke is no exception. Since our early days in Telluride back in the mid 1990s, David has been a long-time friend of Toad and a close partner of ours at Telluride Mountainfilm Festival. A long-time Telluride resident and self-proclaimed adrenaline junky, David’s been rocking his title as Telluride Mountainfilm Festival Director for the past few years, bringing varied and powerful films to Mountainfilm. And when he’s not knee-deep in Mountainfilm, he’s also a darn good filmmaker on the side. This year, David’s latest documentary, The Diplomat, shook up Mountainfilm – and we couldn’t have been prouder. The Diplomat chronicles the remarkable life of late US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. If the name sounds familiar, it should – Ambassador Holbrooke was David’s father. In this documentary, David investigates his father’s legacy as he gets to know his father “better in death that I did in life.” One of the most accomplished diplomats of the 20^th century, Ambassador Holbrooke spent more than five decades engaged in high-stakes diplomacy at the negotiating table. In an effort to get to know the man behind the peace missions, David delves into his father’s past: From his early days as an intuitive foreign service officer in Vietnam to securing a peace between war-torn Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia and, finally, to his work as U.S. point man for a crumbling Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Diplomat is a frank exploration of family relationships, weighed against ambition, legacy and the force required to affect change in the world. But in both Ambassador Holbrooke’s tireless diplomacy and David Holbrooke’s vulnerable storytelling, it is clear that the indomitable spirit runs deep in both men. Like father, like son. For more information on The Diplomat and where to see the film, visit http://www.thediplomatfilm.com. The Diplomat (trailer) from ro*co Films on Vimeo.