When I first encountered the events that underpin THE STRINGER, I was profoundly shaken. I am drawn to stories that unsettle – stories that challenge inherited narratives and compel us to confront uncomfortable truths. This film is one such confrontation. It invites us to reckon with history’s blind spots and the voices long ignored.

From the beginning, this film was never about accolades – especially from institutions that have historically excluded storytellers from the Global South and communities of color. As the son of Vietnamese refugees, I didn’t approach this project to discredit or assign blame, but to expand the narrative. THE STRINGER is about making space – space for individuals to share their lived experiences, especially those who have been denied that space for far too long. This includes a generation of Vietnamese people whose voices have been marginalized in the global retelling of a war fought on their own land.

Bao Nguyen,
Director, The Stringer