Coming soon for rent and purchase on FORMED.

There is arguably no political assassination in history as consequential as the ill-fated November 1, 1963, CIA backed coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam. His tragic murder led to a series of failures that ushered in the Vietnam war and contributed to the major societal upheavals of the 1960’s. Cast as a despot and autocrat in order to justify the actions of misguided policymakers, Diem receives a stunning new appraisal in this provocative and expertly crafted new film.

Liberator of Asia: The True Story of Ngo Dinh Diem masterfully weaves together interviews with leading contemporaries and relatives of Diem, military historians, Vietnamese leaders, rare archival footage, and groundbreaking new evidence to present an altogether different portrait of Diem. He possessed the Confucian "Mandate of Heaven'', a moral and political authority that was widely recognized by all Vietnamese. Diem was a figure of rare political courage and integrity, and unwavering Catholic faith, a patriot who strove to defend his country from Communism while fighting off Western attempts to undermine his governing authority.

Endorsements:

"The final Vietnam defeat was not really on battle grounds, but on political and moral grounds. The Vietnam War need not have been lost. Overwhelming evidence supports it." — James V. Schall, S.J., Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

"Did I find a veritable Conradian 'Heart of Darkness'? Yes, I did, but it was not in the quarter to which all popular American sources were pointing their accusatory fingers, in other words, not in Saigon but, paradoxically, within the Department of State back in Washington, D.C., and within President Kennedy's closest White House advisory circle. The actions of these men led to Diem's murder. And with his death, nine and a half years of careful work and partnership between the United States and South Vietnam was undone." — Geoffrey Shaw, Author, The Lost Mandate of Heaven: The American Betrayal of Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam