Netflix Picks Up ‘The Stringer,’ Controversial Doc That Challenges Who Took The Famous “Napalm Girl” Photo From The Vietnam War

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired Bao Nguyen’s controversial documentary The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photoa film that challenges the authorship of one of the most famous images ever taken of the Vietnam War.

The photo, informally dubbed “Napalm Girl,” which shows a naked girl running in agony down a road in the village of Trang Bang in June 1972 after a napalm attack by the U.S. military, has always been attributed to Nick Ut, a photographer for the Associated Press. But the documentary, based on a forensic analysis and testimony from some surviving AP staffers, says it was really a local stringer who took it, a man named Nguyễn Thành Nghệ. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Title under the two-word title The Stringer.

“A former Saigon photo editor reveals a secret he’s been plagued with for 52 years, setting off a gripping two-year investigation into the truth behind one of the Vietnam War’s most iconic photographs,” notes the film’s logline. “Acclaimed war photographer Gary Knight and a small team of journalists embark on a relentless search to locate and seek justice for a man known only as ‘the stringer.’”

Nguyen earned an Emmy nomination for his 2024 The Greatest Night in Popwhich Netflix released. His credits include Be Water and the upcoming film Jimi about late guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

“When I First Heard Nguyen Thanh Nghe’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,” Nguyen said in a statement. “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. 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.”

Ut, who retired after a long career with the AP, has steadfastly maintained he took the photo of the girl, Kim Phuc Phan Thi. She was so badly injured in the incident that she was in no position to make a call herself on who took the photo that became a worldwide sensation after its publication.

The AP investigated the claims made in the film, drawing no firm conclusions on the question of authorship of the image. It continues to give photo credit to Ut. However, World Press Photo conducted an independent investigation into the authorship of “The Terror of War” as the photo is formally known. “Their technical and forensic findings determined there was enough evidence to suspend Nick Ut’s authorship from the award-winning photograph, a first for the organization,” Netflix says. An article on the World Press Photo site says the organization’s role “is not to act as a final judge or arbiter, but to foster space for difficult, honest conversations.”

The photo won the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1973.

The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo is directed by Bao Nguyen and produced by Fiona Turner and Terri Lichstein. Executive producers include Gary Knight, Sue Turley, Grace Lay, Michael Y. Chow, Alex Cotraviwat, Kevin Lin, Nina and David Fialkow, Andrew Reid, William Reid, Sam Reid, Jeremy Gardner, Jeff Zimbalist, James Costa, and Trevor Burgess.

Netflix has not said when it plans to release the documentary on its platform.