In Whose Eyes

The memoir of a Vietnamese Filmaker in War and Peace

The back cover of “In Whose Eyes” by Trần Văn Thủy

Return to the front cover of In Whose Eyes

A cameraman for the People’s Army of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Trần Văn Thủy went on to achieve international fame as the director of films that address the human costs of the war and its aftermath. Thủy’s memoir sold out immediately when published in Vietnam in 2013. In this translation, English-language readers are now able to learn in rich detail about the life and work of this preeminent artist.

“Trần Văn Thủy is a filmmaker of talent and conscience. I will never forget the honesty and the pain found in the films he made, from The Story of Kindness to The Sound of the Violin in Mỹ Lai. Read this memoir and listen to a gentle voice for peace, truth, and reconciliation.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer

“In Whose Eyes is a significant and poignant memoir that offers a dramatic glimpse into the politics of making films during the country’s wartime and postwar periods.” —Lan P. Duong, author of Treacherous Subjects: Gender, Culture, and Trans-Vietnamese Feminism

“This book is the story of one man’s devotion to truth in the face of enormous pressures to conform and enormous dangers in refusing to conform. It is a story of patriotism in the truest sense of that word: love for one’s country. Trần Văn Thủy’s courage and commitment to artistic integrity are both inspiring and humbling.” —W.D. Ehrhart, author of Vietnam–Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir

Trần Văn Thủy is a filmmaker and director.

Lê Thanh Dũng is a writer and translator.

Wayne Karlin is an author and professor of languages and literature at the College of Southern Maryland. Eric Henry is former senior lecturer in the Asian Studies Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Nguyễn Quang Dy is a former Harvard Nieman Fellow and independent journalist in Hanoi.

Cover design by Jack Harrison
Photo of the author by Trần Thế Dân, taken during the war and damaged by mildew due to conditions on the Hô Chi Minh Trails.

A volume in the series
Culture, Politics, and the Cold War

University of Massachusetts Press
Amherst & Boston
www.umass.edu/umpress
ISBN: 978-1-62534-252-2

Read about Trần Văn Thủy on Wikipedia

Order In Whose Eyes from the University of Massachusetts Press.