Pierre Mendes France (1907 – 82), who served as President ofthe Council of Ministers, whose negotiations ended French involvement in theIndochina War, said as much the night before the signing ceremony of the ParisPeace Accords in 1973.
That night the French politician joined a debate with fourjournalists from the US and France about the agreement on Ending the War andRestoring Peace in Vietnam.
A documentary recording the debate will be screened inVietnam for the first time on the occasion of the Liberation Day (April 30)celebration.
It’s one of three films collected by the State RecordsManagement and Archives Department following the project of “collecting rareand precious archives of Vietnam and about Vietnam”, approved by the then-PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2012.
Representing the Archives Department, Nguyen Thi Nga, vicehead of the department, negotiated and bought the copyright from the FrenchNational Cinema Institute to broadcast three documentary films in Vietnam.
The films, entitled Vietnam, Peace for Vietnam and Vietnam -The March to Peace were produced in France between 1970 and 1973.
While the film Peace for Vietnam is about the debate ofPierre Mendes France and journalists, the film Vietnam shows the debate betweenNguyen Thi Binh and Belgian-American journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave,American journalist Peter Kalischer, French professor of political scienceMilton Sacks, French politician Philippe de Villiers and French journalistSerge Bromberger.
Binh gave trenchant words about bombings, the progression ofthe Paris Peace Accords and the current situation in Vietnam.
The 100-minute documentary Vietnam - The March to Peace tellsthe history of Vietnam from 1900 to the Paris Peace Accords in 1973.
Audiences will have the chance to see the rare interviews ofPresident Ho Chi Minh, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong and General Vo Nguyen Giap.
The film also uses images of Cambodian leader NorodomSihanouk, US President Richard Nixon, French General Charles de Gaulle and USpolitician Henry Kissinger.
“The films will be showcased in front of the publicnationwide to provide people a view on the war from the perspective of foreignfilmmakers and journalists,” said Nga.
“We acknowledge that the films are a rare and precious sourceof information which recorded the important period of the national history.”
“We will preserve and promote the value of thesedocumentaries,” she said.
In the framework of the project, the Archives Department alsocollected two French and Russian films in 2015. These films depicted thewartime in the south of Vietnam and the life of President Ho Chi Minh inRussia. They have been screened nationwide and served the people’s needs forresearch and study.-VNA