Argentine director recounts war journalist Ezcurra's final journey in Vietnam

The journey of Ignacio Ezcurra - a young Argentine war correspondent - is a story of courage, dedication and determination to understand the nature of the war in Vietnam.

Director Ricardo Preve (left) and Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam Marcos Antonio Bednarski. (Photo: Minh Anh/Vietnam+)

Expected in June-July 2025, the multi-episode documentary project " A Price We Have to Pay" will be filmed in Vietnam. The film, directed by Ricardo Preve, tells the story of Ignacio Ezcurra, a former war correspondent who covered the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, before going missing and dying in Saigon in May of the same year.

This information was given at a press conference on June 23 at the Argentine Embassy in Hanoi .

Ignacio Ezcurra was born in 1939 in San Isidro, Argentina. He was a reporter for La Nacion - Argentina's leading daily newspaper - from 1962. Driven to find out the truth about the war on the other side of the world, Ignacio decided to leave his homeland and go to Vietnam in April 1968.

Here, Ignacio recorded the reality through articles, photos and videos . Including images of the US sweep in the A Sau Valley (Hue) - where the US concentrated firepower to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail to cut off support from the North; the fear and obsession of US soldiers before the brutality of war; and the brave Vietnamese people and their lives that continued under the rain of bombs and bullets...

Ignacio Ezcurra. (Photo courtesy)

Ignacio was reported missing on May 8, 1968, and died at the age of 28. His remains from the battlefield were sent to his family. The videos, photos, and articles he left behind have become evidence of the brutality and pain that war brings, and are valuable documents for future generations.

Inspired by Ignacio's courage, director Ricardo Preve chose to tell the former reporter's story through his journey from Argentina to Vietnam.

“Ignacio Ezcurra’s story is not well known in Argentina, so I wanted to tell him so that people in the country can know about him. We came to Vietnam not to record Ignacio’s historical milestones, but to go back in time, to the places he went and feel what he felt. Through this small story, we wanted to tell a bigger story about the war. I also wanted to show that Vietnam is not only about war but also about culture, customs, beautiful landscapes and people - people who have suffered so much to have the independence they have today,” said the 68-year-old director.

Director Ricardo Preve

For Ricardo Preve, Ignacio is an example of courage and commitment, especially as a war journalist. The title “The Price We Pay” is taken from the former reporter’s own words in the clip he filmed before disappearing.

In February-March 2025, Ricardo Preve finished filming episode 1 in Argentina. In Vietnam, he plans to visit Hue and Ho Chi Minh City - places Ignacio visited more than 50 years ago.

The film is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026, then sent to international film festivals.

Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Marcos Antonio Bednarski, said he is always ready to accompany and support to help complete the film. "I believe this is a film that needs to be told so that everyone knows about it. This is one of the cultural activities that helps the two countries get closer," the ambassador said.

This is not the first time the story of Ignacio Ezcurra has been introduced in Vietnam. In 2019, 50 years after Ignacio's death, the War Remnants Museum and the Argentine Embassy in Vietnam jointly organized a photo exhibition called "Stories from the Camera" on the occasion of the National Day of the Argentine Republic.

Delegates visit the exhibition "Stories from the Camera" in 2019. (Photo: Vietnam+)

The exhibition features images taken 50 years apart, some by Ignacio in Vietnam during the war, and some by his granddaughter Luisa Duggan in Vietnam during peacetime, using the same camera.

The experience helped Luisa understand more about the friendly and sympathetic country, contributing to fostering friendship between Vietnam and Argentina./.

Ricardo Preve, born in 1957, is an Argentine documentary filmmaker, photographer and social activist. He is the author of “Chagas: The Forgotten Disease” (2005) about an infectious disease in the Latin American community that has received little attention; “Coming Home” (2019) about the journey to bring the remains of a former Italian World War II sailor back to his homeland after 70 years; “Sometime, Somewhere” (2023) about the life of the undocumented Spanish-speaking immigrant community in the US...

Ricardo Preve received many domestic and international awards in the documentary genre such as Emmy, Nordic International Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival (USA)... In 2020, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Italian Navy in 2020 for the film "Coming home" and his contributions to the country's navy.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dao-dien-argentina-ke-lai-hanh-trinh-cuoi-cung-cua-nha-bao-chien-truong-ezcurra-o-viet-nam-post1045844.vnp