Kim Phuc (Phan Thị Kim Phc)

The Sunrise Storyteller (2018) directed by Kasha Slavner

This excerpt from the short film "The Sunrise Storyteller" features Kim Phúc.

The film was directed by student filmmaker Kasha Slavner and went on to win the 2018 MY HERO International Film Festival Ron Kovic Peace Prize and Women Transforming Media Student Award.

Teachers: Visit the free MY HERO Kim Phuc Lesson Plan for this film program. Includes discussion guide and learning outcome.

In 1972, when Kim Phuc was 9 years old, photographer Nick Ut took a famous photo of her running naked and burned from a Napalm attack during the Vietnam War. 

The photo shocked the world, depicting the horrors of war. Richard Nixon initially wondered if the photo was a fake because it would increase anti-war sentiment in the public. Ut won a Pulitzer Prize for the photo.

For Kim Phuc, it was difficult to live with the famous photo, the shame of being photographed naked, her feelings of disfigurement from the Napalm burns and the fact that so many had died during the war, including family. She suffered from depression and sucidial thoughts.

Later, as an adult, she was able to defect from Vietnam. She and her husband were granted asylum in Canada and became Canadian citizens. She overcame her personal struggles and turned them into something positive by working with UNESCO as a peace activist. In 1997, she also established the Kim Phúc Foundation for child victims of war. It is now known as the The KIM Foundation International.

In 2017, she wrote the book Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace.

Most recently, in February 2019, she was awarded the Dresden Peace Prize. 

Kim told MY HERO in 2022, "I believe a hero is brave and does the right thing no matter the consequences. A hero thinks right, does right, makes great sacrifices, and stays humble."