New film claims ‘Napalm Girl’ photo credited to wrong journalist

NEW YORK: 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 on January 26 that it was critical to “share this story with the world”.

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

Mr 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. Mr 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 organisation said in an updated statement on January 26.

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The new film was triggered when Mr 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, Mr Robinson says he was ordered to write a photo caption attributing “Napalm Girl” to Mr Ut by Mr 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 Mr Robinson.

After interviewing Mr Robinson, the film-makers 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 Mr 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.

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