Description
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.
Background
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.
Extent
0.01 Linear Feet
(6.88 gigabytes; 224 digital files.)
Restrictions
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).
Availability
The collection is open for research.