The film “A Private War” is about the journalist Marie Colvin, who works for The Sunday Times. As a journalist, she travels to many countries affected by civil war. During her visit to Sri Lanka in 2001, she loses her left eye and decides to wear an eye patch. After this assignment, Colvin suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but she does not want to give up her job and travels to Iraq. There she met the photographer Paul Conroy. In February 2012, she decided to travel to Syria and report on the city of Homs, where 28,000 men, women and children were trapped. She publishes the story in the Sunday Times and contacts CNN to draw attention to the many civilian victims. They are in the media center in the city of Homs and have to flee because of bomb attacks. Photographer Paul Conroy finds Marie Colvin, who has been killed, in the rubble.
The film ends with images of the destroyed city of Homs, followed by the voice of the real Marie Colvin from an interview and the quote: “You're never going to get to where you're going if you acknowledge fear.”