Buenos Aires (VNA) – The documentary “A Price We Have to Pay” (Un precio que tenemos que pagar) by Argentine director Ricardo Preve premiered at the 41st Mar del Plata International Film Festival, garnering profound interest and emotion from the audience.
The screening was attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Ngo Minh Nguyet, members of the production crew including producer Corina López Roach, along with numerous guests and cinema lovers. The film reconstructs the story of Argentine journalist Ignacio Ezcurra, who went missing in Vietnam in 1968 during the war.
The work brings viewers back to the conflict through an investigation aimed at uncovering the fate of Ignacio Ezcurra, a correspondent for La Nación newspaper sent to Vietnam to cover the war.
Sparked by a photograph published in the press in 1968 that purportedly showed the journalist's body in Cholon, Saigon, Ricardo Preve and his team launched an investigation more than half a century later. This included compiling documents and interviewing witnesses in Argentina, Vietnam, and the US to shed light on the still-unresolved circumstances surrounding his death.
The story of Ignacio Ezcurra also invites reflection on the role and responsibility of international journalists who enter conflict zones, disregarding the dangers, to witness, document, and report the reality of what was happening.
During the war in Vietnam, the chronicles, images, and testimonies of foreign journalists helped bring the conflict closer to global public opinion and shed light on the human losses and suffering inflicted upon the Vietnamese people by the war.
In Latin America, news and images from the Vietnamese frontline, coupled with international solidarity activities, fuelled the anti-war movement and support for the just struggle of the Vietnamese people.
Ezcurra's professional journey thus reflects not only the commitment and courage of a journalist but also the press's mission to defend the truth, highlight humanitarian issues, and raise a voice against the devastating consequences of armed conflicts.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Clara Preve Durrieu, the documentary's narrator, noted that participating in the project allowed her to deepen her knowledge of Vietnam's history and the events related to Ezcurra's disappearance.
Having covered the conflict in Ukraine, she stated that she found numerous similarities between wars separated by several decades, particularly regarding human losses.
In her view, although the war in Vietnam belongs to the past, the stories of war correspondents who lost their lives while practicing their profession remain entirely relevant today.
She believes the documentary brings the Argentine public closer to a story that might have previously seemed distant, highlighting the human dimension of journalistic work in conflict zones, where professionals risk their lives to seek and report the truth.
Clara Preve also expressed her profound admiration for Vietnam and its people following her trip there for the filming.
She highlighted the development and modernisation of Ho Chi Minh City, which, despite its progress, retains a strong traditional cultural identity.
Furthermore, she recalled with special emotion the meetings and interviews with Vietnamese witnesses who lived through the war and directly witnessed some of the events related to Ezcurra – experiences that enabled the team to better understand his story.
The journalist noted that the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City features a memorial space dedicated to Ezcurra, in recognition of the journalists who lost their lives while covering the war in Vietnam.
This fact, she pointed out, demonstrates that Argentina and Vietnam share historical and human bonds that are much deeper than citizens of both countries typically imagine.
For her part, producer Corina López Roach explained that making the documentary involved intense investigative work, especially in the search, selection, and processing of a vast volume of historical archives regarding the war in Vietnam.
The team continued their research even during filming, leading to the discovery of new documents and elements that required revising the narrative approach and the editing of the film.
López Roach also highlighted the collaboration with Vietnamese professionals, particularly with co-producer Anh Tran, whose support was fundamental to the project's development.
One of the most emotional moments of the premiere was the presence of Rosario Ezcurra Caprile, Ignacio's sister, who travelled from Mexico to Argentina to watch the documentary about her brother for the first time.
She recalled being a teenager when Ezcurra disappeared and that she was among the family members who went to the airport to see him off before his departure to Vietnam.
Rosario Ezcurra expressed her deep sorrow upon learning new details about her brother's final moments, particularly the loneliness and fear he might have experienced in an unfamiliar war setting.
She noted that for decades, the family lived with many unanswered questions and a prolonged silence surrounding his death. She also expressed her gratitude to the Vietnamese Government for the facilitation and cooperation provided to clarify the circumstances of her brother's disappearance and death.
According to producer Corina López, the documentary is scheduled for commercial release in Argentina on March 4, 2027. Additionally, it has been selected for the Panorama section of the Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF), with a screening scheduled for December 1 this year, allowing the Vietnamese public to learn about this story through the lens of Argentine filmmakers.
Through Ezcurra's story, “A Price We Must Pay” not only helps preserve the memory of a journalist who went missing during the war, but also conveys a message about the responsibility of the press, the value of truth, and the aspiration for peace.
The emotional reception from the audience in Mar del Plata reflects the human scope of the work and its contribution to strengthening mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of Argentina and Vietnam./.
VNA
