Directed by Bao Nguyen, the Netflix documentary The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo investigates one of the most iconic images of the Vietnam War.
Using archival stills, forensic analysis and first-person accounts, the film revisits the acclaimed photograph known as “Napalm Girl” and asks: who really captured the moment that shook the world?
The trailer centers on the investigation led by journalist Gary Knight and the silent testimony of Vietnamese stringer Nguyen Thanh Nghe, a driver turned photographer who claims he, not the credited photographer Nick Ut, took the shot.
The Stringer made its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival then went on to screen at documentary festivals including DC/DOX and Sheffield DocFest. It debuts on Netflix on November 28th.
Here is the synopsis: 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. Acclaimed conflict 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.”
The Hollywood Reporter review calls the film a “quiet bombshell of a documentary” writing, “A chronicle of globe-trotting gumshoe reporting that incorporates, briefly and effectively, state-of-the-art visual forensics, The Stringer builds upon an intense undercurrent of emotion. Nguyen has made a stirring film that is less about geopolitics than workplace politics — and ultimately about the knotty bond between the two.”
In response to the controversy, the AP issued a statement ahead of the Sundance premiere, and followed up with a second statement after the premiere – “after a representative was able to view the film.”
Watch the official trailer for The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo above.
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