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Guide to the Duc Nguyen Video Footage for Bolinao 52
MS.SEA.042
MS.SEA.042
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Table of contents
Title: Duc Nguyen video footage for
Bolinao 52
Identifier/Call Number: MS.SEA.042
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
224.0 items
(6.88 gigabytes; 224 digital files.)
Date (inclusive): 2004-2005
Language of Collection Materials: Collection materials are in
English,
Vietnamese,
Tagalog,
Ilokano, and Bolinao dialect.
Abstract: The collection consists of video recordings and transcripts of interviews for the documentary film
Bolinao 52, directed by Duc Nguyen. The film tells the story of a group of Vietnamese boat people who were stranded in the Pacific Ocean
for 37 days in 1988. In the documentary, Duc Nguyen interviews Bolinao 52 survivors Tung Trinh and her son Lam Phan, eyewitness
and retired US Navy officer William E. Cloonan, as well as rescuer Carlos "Caloy" Cagusaan.
Creator:
Nguyen, Duc
Entire collection of digital video footage and transcripts are available online.
The collection is open for research.
This material is provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Transmission or reproduction of any material protected
by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. The authors or their
heirs retain their copyrights to the material. Contact the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Special Collections
and Archives for more information (spcoll@uci.edu).
Gift of Duc Nguyen, 2011.
Duc Nguyen Video Footage for Bolinao 52. MS-SEA042. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Processed by Audra Eagle Yun, 2011.
Duc Nguyen is a documentary filmmaker and former Vietnamese refugee who directed and produced the film
Bolinao 52. Nguyen was rescued as a child in 1980 from the South China Sea by the USS
Long Beach. Nguyen was interested in the history of "boat people," Vietnamese refugees who escaped Vietnam by sea in small, often unsafe
boats after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Bolinao 52 tells the story of a group of Vietnamese boat people who were stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 37 days in 1988. The original
110 refugees were refused by multiple passing ships, including the USS
Dubuque, and many starved and were forced to resort to cannibalism. The 52 remaining survivors were rescued by Filipino fishermen,
who brought them to the Philippine island of Bolinao in the province of Pangasinan. In the documentary, Duc Nguyen interviews
Bolinao 52 survivors Tung Trinh and her son Lam Phan, eyewitness and retired US Navy officer William E. Cloonan, and rescuer
Carlos "Caloy" Cagusaan.
Bolinao 52 premiered on March 19, 2007 in San Francisco and on March 27, 2007 in San Jose at the San Francisco International Asian American
Film Festival. The film won two Emmy awards (Outstanding Achievement in Documentary and Oustanding Music Composition) for
the Northern California region by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2009.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The collection consists of digital video recordings and transcripts of interviews for the documentary film "Bolinao 52," directed
by Duc Nguyen. In the documentary, Duc Nguyen interviews Bolinao 52 survivors Tung Trinh and her son Lam Phan, eyewitness
and retired US Navy officer William E. Cloonan, and rescuer Carlos "Caloy" Cagusaan. Transcriptions and translations of the
video footage were created by Quan Tran, Duc Nguyen, Francisco Garcia, Stefanie Ritoper, and Julia Tran.
These files can be searched and accessed through
UCIspace @ the Libraries .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bolinao 52 (Motion picture).
Boat people -- Vietnamese -- Interviews
Political refugees -- Vietnam -- Interviews.
Refugees -- Vietnam -- Interviews
Video recordings -- 20th century.
Vietnam -- History -- 1945-1975 -- Sources
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives.