The Stringer

In cooperation with WestLicht, as part of the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition

A former photo editor from Saigon, haunted by a secret for 52 years, bravely makes a stunning revelation that sets off a gripping two-year investigation into five decades of hidden truths behind one of the most iconic photographs of the Vietnam War. Renowned war photographer Gary Knight and journalists Fiona Turner, Terri Lichstein, and Lê Vân embark on a relentless quest to track down a man known only as “The Stringer” and bring him justice.

The work of photographers during the Vietnam War exposed a Western audience—largely unaware of the scale of atrocities—to the horrors inflicted on the civilian population. The iconic photo The Terror of War, also known as Napalm Girl, shocked the world with its depiction of violence against children and triggered global protests and demands for an end to the war. But the claim of a former Associated Press photo editor casts doubt on the image’s origins. Bao Nguyen’s film follows a relentless pursuit of the truth, uncovering a photographer known only as “the Stringer,” who claims to have taken the photo—thus calling into question the authorship attributed to the AP photographer. In the course of this investigation, Nguyen’s film addresses racial injustice and journalistic ethics, questioning why the essential contributions of Vietnamese photographers to this conflict have been left out of history.