“The Stringer” has finally found a home.
The documentary, one of the buzziest and most controversial films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has been acquired by Netflix. It is now titled “The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Bao Nguyen (“The Greatest Night in Pop,” “Be Water”) directed “The Stringer,” which calls into question the credits for “The Terror of War” (also known as “Napalm Girl”) – a photograph from the Vietnam War of a young girl running from a napalm attack. The photo from 1972 is largely attributed to Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, who, among other things, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo of the Year distinction. But what the documentary claims is that, following a two-year investigation, the photo was actually taken by a local stringer named Nguyễn Thành Nghệ.
“When I first heard Nguyễn Thành Nghệ’s [the stringer’s] story – a quiet Vietnamese photographer who believed he had taken a photograph that changed the world – I set out on a journey to listen, and to understand. I hope ‘The Stringer’ opens a space for curiosity and reflection, giving a voice to a generation of Vietnamese who never thought their memories held value,” said Nguyen in an official statement. “Through our partnership with Netflix, I’m honored to share this film with the world, including viewers in Vietnam, and give Mr. Nghệ’s story the visibility and dignity he’s long been denied.”
For their part, the Associated Press continued to defend Ut’s authorship of the photo and Ut remains credited with the photo, while the World Press Photo organization suspended Ut’s authorship – a first for the organization. “Their technical and forensic findings determined there was enough evidence to suspend Nick Ut’s authorship from the award-winning photograph,” according to Netflix’s statement. Ut continues to claim that he took the photo.
According to our own report from the festival, the documentary follows “journalist Gary Knight leads a group of colleagues who set out to unravel the mystery of the photo, test the veracity of Robinson’s confession and his allegation that AP’s chief photographer Horst Faas made the real-time decision to credit Ut that was never challenged – and to find the stringer.”
At the film’s world premiere at Sundance in january, Nguyen said he never dared raise the issue of authorship, since he had no proof that he took the photo (his wife destroyed the print he was given by the AP on the day he sold the film) and thought no one would believe him.
The documentary was hotly tipped as one of the potential big acquisitions from this year’s decidedly sleepy Sundance Film Festival.
Netflix will release the documentary later this year.
