Launch ceremony of documentary film “Kim Toan, Journalist-Soldier”. Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5

The film was sponsored by the Vietnam Press Museum and the Vietnam Journalists Association to mark the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21).

Nguyen Kim Toan was born on November 29, 1940, in Tan Trao commune, Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong city. In 1960, he began his career as a reporter, photographer, and graphic designer for Kien An newspaper. In 1965, he volunteered to go to the south as a war correspondent for Giai Phong newspaper, operated by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, which put him in the thick of the fighting. During national reunification and reform, he continued to contribute to revolutionary journalism as Editor-in-Chief of Hai Phong newspaper, Chairman of the Hai Phong Journalists Association, and a member of the Vietnam Journalists Association’s standing board.

Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Communications, Education and Mass Mobilization Commission, and President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, speaks at the event. Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5

Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan newspaper, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Communications, Education and Mass Mobilization Commission, and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, spoke at the film’s launch ceremony.

“The past 100 years have been a great journey of the Vietnamese revolutionary press, from Thanh Nien newspaper, founded by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc in 1925, to a strongly developed press accompanying the nation in every stage of the struggle for national independence, construction, and defense," Mr. Minh said. 

"The documentary about journalist Kim Toan honors his contributions and looks back at the fiery,glorious history of the Vietnamese revolutionary press. This film inspires new generations of journalists with the will and professional responsibility to keep the revolutionary flame in their hearts.”

Journalist Kim Toan (left) poses for a photo. Photo: Ngoc Anh/VOV5