New film claims 'Napalm Girl' photo credited to wrong journalist

by Andrew MARSZAL

The makers of a new documentary alleging the iconic "Napalm Girl" photo was deliberately credited to the wrong photographer -- claims denied by the Associated Press -- said Sunday that it is "critical" to "share this story with the world."

"The Stringer," which premiered at the Sundance film festival, chronicles an investigation into rumors that the devastating image which helped change global perceptions of the Vietnam War was actually taken by a little-known local freelancer.

Nick Ut, the AP staff photographer credited with the photo of a nine-year-old girl fleeing naked from a napalm strike, won a Pulitzer Prize. He has always said that he took the photo. Ut's lawyer attempted to block the film's release.

AP published a report last week detailing its own investigation into the controversy, which found "nothing that proves Nick Ut did not take the photo," but said it had not yet been granted access to the film's research.

"AP stands ready to review any and all evidence and new information about this photo," the organization said in an updated statement Sunday.

The new film was triggered when Carl Robinson, the photo editor on duty in AP's Saigon bureau on the day the image was captured, began speaking out about the provenance of the photo.

In the film, Robinson says he was ordered to write a photo caption attributing the photo to Ut by Horst Faas, AP's two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning chief of photos in Saigon.

"I started writing the caption... Horst Faas, who had been standing right next to me, said 'Nick Ut. Make it Nick Ut,'" says Robinson.

After interviewing Robinson, the filmmakers identified the long-lost name of a Vietnamese freelance photographer who is visible in other photos of the infamous scene at Trang Bang on June 8, 1972.

They eventually tracked down Nguyen Thanh Nghe, who states in the film that he is certain he took the photo.

"Nick Ut came with me on the assignment. But he didn't take that photo... That photo was mine," he says.

Executive director Gary Knight, a photojournalist who led the film's investigation, told AFP it was "critical" that members of the news media "hold ourselves to account."

"The photograph in question is one of the most important photographs of anything ever made, certainly of war," he said.

"Just getting that recognition (for Nghe)... it was always important for us as a film team to share this story with the world," added director Bao Nguyen.

- 'Speaking up' -

One question repeatedly raised in response to the new allegations is why it took so long for anybody to speak up.

Robinson says that, at the time of the photo being captioned, he feared for his job.

He added he consequently felt it was "too late" to speak out, until he learned the name of the freelancer decades later.

Ut's lawyer Jim Hornstein told AFP that Robinson had a "50-year vendetta against Nick Ut, AP and Horst Faas," and said "a defamation action will soon be filed against the film makers."

In the documentary, Nghe's family say he consistently spoke at home of his regret about losing credit for the photo.

Nghe says: "I felt upset. I worked hard for it, but that guy got to have it all. He got recognition, he got awards."

Nguyen, the film's director, said the idea that the family are "only now are speaking up... is sort of a fallacy.

"Within their own circles, they've been saying this for so long," Nguyen said.

Knight said there has always been "a huge power imbalance in journalism."

"It has been dominated by white, Western heterosexual males for as long as I've been in it, and before," he said.

- 'Investigating' -

The filmmakers also hired INDEX, a France-based non-profit that specializes in forensic investigations, which concluded it is "highly unlikely" Ut was in the right position to take the photo.

AP's latest statement repeats its request for the filmmakers to share evidence, including eyewitness accounts and the INDEX report.

"When we became aware of this film and its allegations broadly, we took them very seriously and began investigating," it says.

"We cannot state more clearly that The Associated Press is only interested in the facts and a truthful history of this iconic photo."

© Agence France-Presse