Claudia Opitz (right) introduces the display to Vietnamese Minister Counsellor Chu Công Đức. VNA/VNS Photo

BERLIN — Fifty years after Việt Nam’s reunification on April 30, 1975, an exhibition titled “Vietnam 75 – A Historical Reflection on the Vietnam War” has opened at Berlin’s Babylon cinema, offering a vivid window into one of the most defining periods in Việt Nam’s history against invaders.

The display, blending paintings and photos, draws international audiences and the Vietnamese community in Germany into an emotional reckoning with Việt Nam’s struggle for independence.

Curated by Claudia Opitz, Peter Steiniger, and Sebastian Köpcke, “Vietnam 75” presents a chronological narrative of the war through the eyes of artists and photographers who lived through or deeply studied the war.

The works capture the anguish, iron will, and resilience of a nation under siege, from the early days of the revolutionary movement to the great victory on April 30, 1975.

No artwork can fully convey the horrors of war, but this exhibition is an attempt to honour the Vietnamese people’s decades-long fight, Opitz said.

A portrait of President Hồ Chí Minh at the exhibition. VNA/VNS Photo

The curators also pay tribute to international voices of solidarity, including East German documentary filmmakers Heynowski & Scheumann and photographer Thomas Billhardt, whose searing images brought the war’s realities to the world.

The exhibition is accompanied by screenings of classic Vietnamese revolutionary films, including Chị Tư Hậu (Sister Tư Hậu), Em bé Hà Nội (The Little Girl of Hanoi), and Làn Sóng Mới (New Wave), subtitled in Vietnamese, English, and German.

These showings have resonated deeply with the Vietnamese community in Germany, particularly younger generations seeking to reconnect with their roots. — VNA/VNS