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Progress Film-Verleih GmbH signed the deal with the Communist country on Thursday giving it access it all state-owned film archives. Included are the film archives of the First Indochina War with France and the Second Indochina War with South Vietnam and the US as well as a film of the death of H Chi Minh, and films from the former South Vietnam. North Vietnam, it is reported, had more than 130 cameramen on the frontline during the Second Indochina War.

It is interesting to hear that Germany has acquired access to such a bounty of information... that which includes the film archives of the military and Communist party. It is well-known that the former East Germany had countless film crews crawlingthrough the jungles of SEA during the longest war. It was also East Germany that produced an outstanding number of propaganda films and much footage on American POWs in captivity... the hauling off in ox carts... Midnight Marchs through the streets of Hanoi. And, the infamous 6 hour piece-de-propagnda - Pilots in Pyjamas.

Then the wall came tumbling down and East met West and now Germany has all the footage. Progress Film-Verleih GmbH was a former East German state film production company and has taken the opportunity to exploit old friendships and contacts to be certain.

First, Russia sold off a quantity of her archives to the highest bidder several years ago. Now Vietnam has found a way to preserve their filmed heritage and do the same. We can only wonder how much footage includes unaccounted-for men... POWs and MIAs. Progress appears to be acquiring the archives for a licensing agenda... anyone with a checkbook and a pen that works. We know that the men and women who have yet to be accounted-for are priceless... will Progress put a price on those images?