James Pastouna

I made two films about Agent Orange, Toxic Rain a 45: 00-minute film made in 2006 for ARD the first German channel and ten years later Forever Contaminated a 30 minute film, for WDR, Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Here, in Germany we have a 45:00 documentary format which is in my opinion very logical, 30:00 to short, 60:00 to long. Unfortunately, it is difficult to show 45:00 minute formats in other countries. Germany does its own thing different to other countries like no Sunday shopping, expensive washing machines with very long lifespans!

Constantin and I were weeks on the road with Dung (logistic coordinator extraordinaire) filming the suffering of people.

The so called Hanoi Hilton (Hỏa-Lò- Prison) kept downed US fighter pilots in appalling conditions. It was also a place where the French colonists kept their Vietnamese captives shackled together on a long continuous wooden board running from one end of the room to another.  Almost all their captives were political prisoners fighting for independence from French rule. They were tortured. I saw for the first time in my life a guillotine, beneath the blade a rusting metal bucket.

After French involvement the US intervened. U.S.  foreign policy embraced the idea of the domino theory, a metaphor of falling dominoes. If Vietnam fell to communism, there would be a knock-on effect. Multiple other countries in SouthEast Asia would fall to this ideology.

The Vietnamese were fighting for independence not for communism. Estimates vary but the US Vietnam war range from almost a million people to 3 million dead Vietnamese and 58, 220 US service personnel.

Years later thousands of civilians still suffer terribly from this war. People were contaminated from a chemical called Agent Orange. During the Vietnam war this chemical was primarily used to destroy the foliage on trees so soldiers would be easy to see. This chemical seeped into the environment and has long term effects.

One challenge was to prove that people were indeed affected by Agent Orange. How do you prove it? I saw birth defect pictures and people who say they are victims of this toxic chemical. The combination of ailments are truly catastrophic.

The people were never compensated for their suffering. It was war and compensation is not applicable. There was a huge response after the film was shown and the dept. made a special account through the Pax bank (A Catholic run bank) who dealt with the money. Years later I asked about the amount. Over € 100,000

After the film went out in 2005 I got a phone call from someone who told me he wants to contribute a lot of money for the victims of Agent Orange. It was in fact a huge donation the equivalent of approx. $10,000. I know this because years later Father Phan Khac Tu told me the bank (in those days) had queries about such a large sum being transferred. Vietnam for years after the war had for a long time I believe a rather opaque banking system and they asked for further authorisation. The donor was perplexed that his sum was not immediately transferred and withdrew his donation. Father Phan Khac Tu was quite distraught about this loss. Ten years later he still mentioned it. ’Why did the donor not show patience?”

It was a privilege to work together with Ho Sy Hai, Dung who helped with logistics and made the whole shoot possible and Colonel Nguyen Van Qui , who said: “Why does the American government refuse to give us compensation? Why don’t they care about the victims? Their behaviour is immoral.” Incidentally U.S personnel who fell victim to Agent Orange toxins received compensation. The Colonel spent the entire war living in and from the jungle. Finally, Father Phan Khac Tu, a Catholic priest who won the hearts of his fellow countrymen fighting against US occupation. A great man who cared for thousands of disabled children.

There is a German run charity that helps run a charity in Vietnam called “Dorf der Freundschaft.” They do great work and have a section for donations. https://www.dorfderfreundschaft.de

After seeing the damage caused by this chemical I can’t see any of these Vietnam War films like ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘Full Metal Jacket’, ‘Good Morning Vietnam’, ‘Platoon’, ‘Apocalypse Now’ with fictional dramatic moments. I can’t help but think of the social commentator Frankie Boyle’s take on US foreign policy: ‘American foreign policy is horrendous ’cause not only will America come to your country and kill all your people, but what’s worse, I think, is that they’ll come back 20 years later and make a movie about how killing your people made their soldiers feel sad. Americans making a movie about what Vietnam did to their soldiers is like a serial killer telling you what stopping suddenly for hitchhikers did to his clutch.’

After Vietnam I thought the US and their allies learned a lesson. It is almost impossible to win against a foe who wants to win more than you do. I’ll get to this theme in the Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) section. Iraq: P.M. Mr Tony Blair and President George Bush junior and how a formidable man Mr Colin Powell got shafted.

Ten years later Constantin and I made our second film.