![\"the](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The_Terror_of_War-800x475.jpg\")
The Terror of War, also known as Napalm Girl | Associated Press <\/p>\n The Terror of War, also known as Napalm Girl | Associated Press <\/p>\n
Photographer Nick Ut was honored last night at Visa pour l\u2019Image, the International Festival of Photojournalism, in France. The honor came just days after the news broke that Netflix acquired The Stringer<\/a>, the explosive documentary that alleges Ut did not capture \u201cThe Terror of War,\u201d one of the most famous photos in history. Ut received a lengthy ovation and further defended himself against the documentary\u2019s allegations. <\/p>\n In his speech honoring Ut, Visa pour l\u2019Image Director General Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Leroy, stood by Ut. <\/p>\n \u201cHere at Visa pour l\u2019Image, we are many different things: corny, classical, orthodox, grouchy, dramatic, and so on. Our critics are never short of vocabulary when it comes to describing us. But we are also fiercely determined to defend this profession that we love and was so greatly loved by Roger Th\u00e9rond who helped me found the festival,\u201d Leroy said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is because this is what Roger would have done, because it is fair and just to do so in the absence of incontrovertible evidence, and because it is the raison-d\u2019\u00eatre of the festival, that I wish to make the message loud and clear this evening: Visa pour l\u2019Image and Perpignan are standing by Nick Ut and all the photojournalists who risked their lives to report on the Vietnam War.\u201d<\/p>\n The complete speech is available to read on Facebook<\/a> and below. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n When The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo premiered<\/a> at Sundance in January, it sent shockwaves through the photography industry. The documentary, directed by Bao Nguyen and produced by VII Foundation, claims that local stringer Nguy\u1ec5n Th\u00e0nh Ngh\u1ec7 took the famed \u201cThe Terror of War\u201d photograph, commonly known as \u201cNapalm Girl,\u201d not Nick Ut. <\/p>\n The Associated Press photo was disseminated globally and altered the public perception of the Vietnam War, particularly in the West. Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo, arguably one of the most famous and influential war images ever captured. <\/p>\n The AP, for its part, initiated a lengthy investigation <\/a>concerning the authorship of the iconic image. The detailed 97-page report<\/a> ultimately concluded that Nick Ut may have taken the image and that there is not sufficient evidence to change the photo credit. <\/p>\n In a separate investigation<\/a>, World Press Photo came to a very different conclusion, and suspended Ut\u2019s credit<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe level of doubt is too significant to maintain the existing attribution,\u201d World Press Photo executive director Joumana El Zein Khoury said in a statement in May. World Press Photo did not reassign the credit. <\/p>\n The Stringer director, Nguyen, described World Press Photo\u2019s decision to strip Ut\u2019s credit as \u201cextraordinary.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cTheir findings conclude that, based on the available visual and technical evidence, Nguy\u1ec5n Th\u00e0nh Ngh\u1ec7, a long-overlooked Vietnamese stringer, appears more likely than Nick \u00dat to have taken the photo,\u201d Nguyen wrote in May.<\/p>\n \u201cThis renewed examination was prompted, in part, by the evidence presented in The Stringer, an investigative documentary I directed in close collaboration with a team of journalists and film crew, many of whom are Vietnamese. This recognition is deeply meaningful to all of us involved. But above all, it represents a critical first step in acknowledging the man we believe is the rightful photographer: Nguy\u1ec5n Th\u00e0nh Ngh\u1ec7. We hope the world will come to know and say his name,\u201d the director continued. <\/p>\n Nguyen has maintained that The Stringer is not a movie about Nick Ut, but is instead an exploration of truth, memory, and \u201cthe quiet burden of a man who carried a secret for over fifty years.\u201d <\/p>\n Hundreds of respected photojournalists rushed to Ut\u2019s defense<\/a>, both in January when the documentary initially premiered and especially following World Press Photo\u2019s controversial choice<\/a> to strip Ut\u2019s credit. <\/p>\n It was around this time in May that Ut was officially invited to Visa pour l\u2019Image.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause people are talking without having seen the [The Stringer]. Because Associated Press didn\u2019t take away the credit. Because we don\u2019t like the fact that this documentary was made after the disappearance of the main people involved, especially Horst Faas, to whom it would have been so easy to ask questions. Because we support him, we invite Nick to come to Perpignan,\u201d Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Leroy said in late May. <\/p>\n Clearly, Ut took Leroy up on the invitation. Coinciding with Ut\u2019s appearance at the festival in Perpignan, France, Ut\u2019s lawyers, James Holstein and Martin Pradel, released a statement which has been shared with PetaPixel. The statement is shared in full below, unedited, with emphasis preserved. <\/p>\n Following the announcement of Netflix\u2019s acquisition of the documentary The Stringer, we feel compelled to respond to a narrative that challenges Nick Ut\u2019s authorship of one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century \u2014 without conclusive evidence and at the expense of truth. In recent months, a film has sought to cast doubt on Nick Ut\u2019s authorship of The Terror of War \u2014 the photograph of nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc running from a napalm attack on June 8, 1972.<\/p>\n This claim is false. Nick Ut took that photograph.<\/p>\n He was there, and he took Kim Phuc to safety after making the image. No one else has the right to claim his work.<\/p>\n The truth is, Nick Ut has remained largely silent throughout this period, even as a vindictive and self-serving campaign \u2014 disguised as journalism \u2014 has gained momentum. This effort appears to have been deliberately timed to coincide with his invitation to \u2018Visa pour l\u2019image\u2019, adding further distress at a moment that should have been one of recognition and dignity.<\/p>\n He is deeply upset by what has been said about him, his career, his work, his honor and his integrity.<\/p>\n The Associated Press, after extensive investigation, has reaffirmed that there is no credible evidence to challenge his authorship. Many witnesses who stood beside him that day continue to support what has always been known: that he took the famous picture.<\/p>\n The attacks against him are painful, but they cannot erase the truth. That photograph, which earned Nick the Pulitzer Prize and helped change public opinion on the Vietnam War, belongs to history. Its power comes not from controversy, but from the innocent child it portrays and the suffering it exposed.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing that a company like Netflix will give such allegations a global stage is painful,\u201d Nick Ut said.<\/p>\n But today, as he stands here in Perpignan, he chooses not to dwell on falsehoods but to celebrate the values that unite us as photojournalists. \u201cWe are guardians of memory. We risk our lives to ensure that truth is not forgotten\u201d.<\/p>\n Nick Ut wants to dedicate this recognition to Kim Phuc, whose courage and humanity continue to inspire everyone. And he also dedicates it to all photojournalists who persist in telling the truth, no matter how difficult or dangerous.<\/p>\n Nick Ut remains committed to defending the truth \u2014 not only for himself, but for the values that define responsible journalism.<\/p>\n He will take all necessary steps and action \u2014 in Court if need be \u2014 to preserve his legacy and protect the integrity of his work.<\/p>\n PetaPixel has repeatedly requested a screener of the documentary since its initial premiere at Sundance and thus far has been denied. Netflix has not confirmed the documentary\u2019s release date yet, although it is reportedly set to arrive on the streaming platform this year. <\/p>\n \u201cNo one else ever came forward claiming that my image was not mine, no one ever confronted me about my photo, and this is also the first time I heard the story that it was a stringer\u2019s film. All film was labeled and marked with each person\u2019s name at the office before developing, and matched by the label to the envelopes with the photographer\u2019s names. Our system at the AP Saigon was fail-proof when it came to which negatives belonged to who,\u201d Ut said on Facebook in February, shortly after he said he planned to file a defamation lawsuit<\/a> against the producers of The Stringer. <\/p>\n \u201cI took the photo of Kim Phuc, I took the other photos from that day that show her family and the devastation the war caused. No one else has the right to claim that I did not take that specific or any other photo attributed to me because I am the creator of all the work I\u2019ve done since day one. My career spans more than 50 years and, although I am now retired from the AP, I continue to create impacting images for the world to see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Terror of War, also known as Napalm Girl | Associated Press Photographer Nick Ut was honored last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[87302,41367,64,63,1691,134,344,41370,87303,41371,87304,40002,41374,87305,87306,87307],"class_list":{"0":"post-124334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-ap","9":"tag-associatedpress","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-documentary","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-movies","15":"tag-napalmgirl","16":"tag-nguyenthanhnghe","17":"tag-nickut","18":"tag-photoindustry","19":"tag-photojournalism","20":"tag-thestringer","21":"tag-theterrorofwar","22":"tag-visapourlimage","23":"tag-worldpressphoto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Stringer-800x451.webp.webp\")
A still from The Stringer | VII Foundation <\/p>\n![\"Black](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Nick-Ut-Napalm-Girl-800x420.jpg\")
The two surviving frames of \u2018Napalm Girl\u2019 held by the AP. <\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nick-ut-visa-copy.jpg\")
Nick Ut was honored at Visa pour l\u2019Image yesterday, September 5, in France. Ut received a standing ovation from the reported 2,600 people in attendance. | Photo by Ren\u00e9e C Byer, shared by Nick Ut on Facebook<\/a> <\/p>\n