In Whose Eyes

"Tran Van Thuy 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 My 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

"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

"In Whose Eyes 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.  But it is also a window into postwar Vietnam's struggles with itself and who, as a people and a nation, the Vietnamese want to be. Tran Van Thuy's courage and commitment to artistic integrity are both inspiring and humbling."—W. D. Ehrhart, author of Vietnam-Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir

"From the remaining fog of the American war in Vietnam emerges this remarkable memoir of war, peace and reconciliation. In Whose Eyes should be a must read for those seeking fresh understanding and new perspective on a war that ravaged so many, yet left us with survivors like Tran Van Thuy, war photographer, filmmaker and ultimately philosopher. I am enriched from reading this memoir."—Larry Berman, author of Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter  and Vietnamese Communist Agent

"Tran Van Thuy records the life of the artist working under terrible conditions--war and censorship.  Filming all the while, he has brought back eye-witness truths.  In Whose Eyes tells the stories of the many people Thuy encounters.  Miraculously, he finds kindness in each one, even those on 'the other side.'"—Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Fifth Book of Peace, and editor of Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace