Monday, May 5, 2008

Comments from Audience

Anh Duc men,
Cam on anh that nhieu da lam phim BOLINAO 52 va chieu tat Cal campus toi hom qua. Toi rat thich phim cua anh. Day la vet thuong lon cua dan toc Viet Nam noi chung va cua nhung thuyen nhan noi rieng ma chua co ai noi len bang nhung phuong tien truyen thong dai chung trong ca mot thoi gian dai vua qua tu sau 1975. Phan vi co the doi voi nhieu nguoi vet thuong nay van con mang mu va ruom mau; phan vi nhieu nan nhan cua minh chua duoc giup do de chua lanh, co tinh chuyen nghiep hon. Co le minh chua co du nhung chuyen vien tam ly co the hieu van hoa, tieng noi va cam nghiem duoc nhung kinh nghiem ma thuyen nhan da di qua nen rat kho de giup thuyen nhan vuot qua nhung kinh nghiem dau thuong nay. Phim cua anh phan nao da noi cho dai chung, hay co the giup cho cac chuyen vien tam ly My hieu phan nao ve kinh nghiem thuyen nhan. Dong thoi toi tin chac la phim nay co the giup nhieu nguoi voi di nhung dau kho va chua lanh chinh ho, nhung kinh nghiem hai hung ma ho da trai qua ma ho danh chon giau bay lau nay.
Mot lan nua cam on anh va tan duong anh vi tam hon cao quy cua anh muon chia se nhung tai nang anh co cho mot viec lam rat huu ich nay.
Chuc anh thanh cong trong phim ke tiep.
Binh an,
Pham Duc Hanh

Dear Duc,
Thank you very much for making BOLINAO 52 and the last night screening at Cal [UC Berkeley]. I appreciate your film. This topic represents a large wound for the Vietnamese in general and more specifically to the Vietnamese boat people refugee experiences that have not been spoken through the public broadcast system during a long awaiting period since 1975. Partly, because these wounds are still fresh, partly because they haven’t been helped to heal properly. Perhaps we don’t have enough professionals who can understand the culture, language communication; and at the same time share the experience as boat people to help the refugees through this painful healing process. Your film mostly has spoken to the general public and to the American psyche in particular to help them understand about the Vietnamese boat people experience. At the same time, I believe this film would help many people with the same wound that have not fully nursed through the difficult time they endured who chose to remain silent for many years. One more time, I would like to thank and congratulate you on using your spirit and talent to share this valuable story to the public.
Wishing you much success on your future endeavor.

Peace,
Pham-Duc-Hanh

Your film was beautifully done. Although it was based on a tragedy, the viewer is left feeling a sense of hope that some good still prevailed and some justice was accomplished in spite of it all. Other documentaries on the same subject left me feeling very bad, but yours was more uplifting. What a strange twist of fate that the poor, starving refugee boy grew up to be a strong, solid American Marine! We never know what life has in store for us, do we?

Kieu Lien


I happened to turn on the tv today and was able to catch part of the documentary, I thought it was really well made.
The authentic pictures and videos, the views from both a refugee and a marine~~
It's very touching even though it's hard to listen to this kind of story. My parents were boat people, and my mom used to tell us stories of how "life" was on the boat, but I think I was too young to really grasp the gravity of the situation.

Ashley

I watched Bolinao 52 last week, it was an incredibly interesting and moving documentary. No one ever told me their stories about leaving Vietnam so I never had a chance to know how hard it could be. Thank you and congratulations for making that part of Vietnam's history known to others.

Bao-Lan

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