The Sunday documentary ‘The Stringer’ questions who took the photo of the ‘Napalm’ girl ‘

Park City, Utah (AP) – After half a century of public silence, an independent Vietnam photographer said he took one of the most famous and shocking photographs of the twentieth century: the image of a naked girl fleeing from a Napalm attack in Vietnam from the south that for a long time is attributed to a photographer from The Associated Press.

Nguyen Thanh Nghe claimed the authorship of the Pulitzer Award Photography of the “Napalm Girl” in the new documentary “The Stringer” and apart from its premiere on Saturday night in the Sunday Film Festival In Park City, Utah.

The AP carried out its own investigation and said that it has no reason to conclude that someone more than the photographer accredited for a long time, Nick UT, has taken the photograph. The news agency said it was “surprised and disappointed” that the filmmakers portray it as if they had reviewed the materials of the film and were disdainful. The AP said the movie for the first time in Sundance.

Nghe joined the filmmakers for the questions and answers after the projection, where he said, through a translator: “I took the photo.” The public applauded with enthusiasm. He didn’t say why he waited so much to make the claim.

The AP said he was asking the filmmakers to free their collaborators from the film’s confidentiality agreements, including NGHE. He also asked the filmmakers to share a visual analysis they commissioned and the film itself. “We cannot affirm more clearly that The Associated Press is only interested in the facts and in a truthful story of this iconic photograph,” said the agency.

Investigating an image captured in the war fog

Nguyen says that he took the iconic photo of Kim Phuc on June 8, 1972. NGHE said that day he went to the city of Trang Bang as a driver of an NBC news team and captured the image of Phuc running down the street, crying And naked. With extended arms. He said he sold his image to the AP for $ 20 and gave him a copy of the photo that his wife then destroyed.

The AP representatives, who saw the film for the first time on Saturday at the premiere, question the involvement of the film that the company reviewed its findings and dismissed them.

“Just in December, we reiterated our request to see the complete materials of the filmmakers and they did not respond, or included the complete AP response in the film,” said Lauren Easton, AP spokesman. “We were surprised and disappointed that the film presented AP by reviewing the film’s materials and dismissing the accusations, which is completely false.”

The film’s investigation was directed by the team formed by husband and wife, Gary Knight, founder of the VII Foundation, and the Fiona Turner producer. Directed by Bao Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American filmmaker.

“I’m not a journalist in any way,” said Nguyen. “I had a healthy skepticism, as I think anyone would have, going against a truth of 53 years ago. … But as a narrator and filmmaker, I thought it was my responsibility and my privilege to be able to raise the history of people like Nghe. ”

AP independently investigated

Before having seen the movie, the AP made Your own research For six months and concluded that “I had no reason to believe that no one but UT took the photo.” Now, the AP is asking the filmmakers to lift the confidentiality agreements that they imposed on their subjects to allow the company to investigate more thoroughly.

“AP is ready to review each and every one of the tests and new information about this photo,” said Easton.

Knight and Turner met with the AP in London last June to discuss the accusations. According to AP, the filmmakers asked the news organization to sign a confidentiality agreement before providing their evidence. Aj would not. The film suggests that tests were presented to the AP, which according to the AP is not true.

A main source in the film is Carl Robinson, then AP photograph editor in Saigón, whom Horst Faas, head of AP photographs in Saigon, annulled his decision not to use the image. Robinson says in the film that Faas ordered him to “make him personnel” and give UT credit for the photo. Both Faas and Yuichi “Jackson” Ishizaki, who developed the film, are dead. Robinson, 81, was fired by the AP in 1978.

On Saturday, a moderator from the Sunday Institute asked why he wanted to present the accusations now. “I didn’t want to die before this story came out,” Robinson told the public after the projection. “I wanted to find (Nghe) and ask for forgiveness.”

A variety of witnesses interviewed by AP, including renowned correspondents such as Fox Butterfield and Peter Arnett and the protagonist of the photo, Phuc, say they are sure that UT took the photo.

The documentary included forensic analysis of the scene.

Robinson was one of those people with whom AP tried to speak during his investigation, but “they told us that we could only do it under conditions” that, according to them, would have prevented them from “taking quick measures if necessary.”

The film’s investigation lasted more than two years. The journalists recruited a French forensic team, Index, to help determine the probability that UT would have been in a position to take the photo. The forensic team concluded that it was very unlikely that UT could have done it.

UT lawyer James Hornstein said the following on Sunday after the premiere: “In due time, we will proceed to correct this error in a court where Nick Ut’s reputation will be claimed.”

Knight referred to AP investigation on Saturday and told the audience that the company’s statement is available online. “They said they are always open to examine the truth. And I think it was something very reasonable, ”said Knight. “Our story is here and is here for everyone to see it.”

He added: “Things happen in the field in the heat of the moment. … We are all stronger if we examine ourselves, we ask difficult questions and we are open and honest about what happens in our profession. Now more than ever, I would say. ”

“The Stringer” still has no distribution plans.

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