Sometimes, you'd get a call in the middle of the day which caught you by surprise. A call from a stranger who wanted to connect to his past. It was a call that certified your work's impact. It tells you that your efforts made a difference. This morning my phone rang. The person on the line said: "I watched your film BOLINAO 52 and I'm in it." I paused. Then he proceed to tell me that the archival video I used in the film was his own rescue and he wanted to know if there are more. Doan Ha was 5 years old when his boat was rescued by the USS Wabash.
Video from the US Navy documenting the rescue of Doan Ha and his family. He recently revisited that part of his history and found the men who rescued him. Doan first found a doctor who gave him an examination onboard the USS Wabash when they got rescued. Richard Bosshardt, MD described his perspective on the experience here.
Doan recreated the photo of Dr. Bosshardt giving him an oral examination. Then Doan proceed to find the commander of the USS Wabash who made the decision to rescue them. Captain James Ryan who will turn 83 later this year made the trip to California to meet his family.
They had a reunion of course. I met with Doan and he shared his story with me. Many times, I viewed the people in the images of my film BOLINAO 52, I thought to myself, what'd happened to these people. It was one of those days that reaffirmed the work that I do. It is the magic of memories which connect people to their past and push them toward reconciliation. It was a moment that I live for.
In December 2013, as I traveled to Toronto, Canada to attend a fundraiser for Filipino victims of typhoon Haiyan, I met a woman at Vietnamese Toronto Association who came from the region of Pagansinan. Her name is Lorna Tabulao. She was very moved by the documentary, so she decided to raise some money and go back to Bolinao and helped the people there, especially Caloy Caagusan who rescued the Bolinao 52.
That was then. Nine months later, I came back to Toronto to show another documentary I directed called STATELESS. Lorna came to the 1st screening with her husband. They sat down and watched the film. She also brought a photo album from her trip to Bolinao in April. She also gave me some digital copies. I thought I would share these with you.
Lorna addressed the audience.
Caloy Caagusan stood in the audience.
Caloy in front of the audience.
Lorna introduced Caloy.
The beach where the Bolinao 52 landed.
Lorna and her husband went to Bolinao in April to show the film to the villagers. They also gave gifts to Caloy and the audience. For many good reasons, I'm so happy that it was Lorna who took the initiative to revisit Bolinao and reached out to Caloy and not me. With her action, we now realize the power and potential of Bolinao 52. I'm truly convinced that powerful story telling can make people do wonderful things. But it is people's great doing that makes powerful stories.
Now let's see what other magical things can Bolinao 52 bring.
It is such wonderful feeling when you know that your work is creating an impact...
Such is the case with BOLINAO 52. From day one after super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) destroyed Tacloban City in the Philippines, we have been busy joining efforts to raise fund for the typhoon victims. The response was overwhelmingly positive and heartwarming.
Immediately after the devastation from the storm, Hoi Trinh, VOICE founder, sent me an email asking me to help him spreading the word about his fundraising campaign. I agreed and asked Viet-Nam California Radio (VNCR) to assist. VNCR, without hesitation, used its airwaves and affiliation to call for donations. On November 19, 2013, we organized a fund raiser concert at VNCR Community Center with the participation of over 20 well-known Vietnamese overseas musicians and artists like Ý Lan, Bằng Kiều, Minh Tuyết, Ngọc Hạ, Don Hồ, Hương Lan, Vũ Khang...
Here is a rendition of Nghìn Trùng Sa Cách by Ý Lan.
Ý Lan sang Nghìn Trùng Sa Cách
Hoi Trinh addressed audience about the relief effort
Volunteers counting donations
On to Canada. Not too long after Hoi Trinh's call, I got another call from Tôn Thất Hùng of SBTN-Canada. Hùng asked me to bring BOLINAO 52 to Canada to host a fundraiser event in Toronto.
Landed in frigid Pearson Airport in Toronto a day after Thanksgiving, I felt a bit out of place. Having living in California for so long, freezing weather is no close friend of mine. However, there is a familiarity in the surrounding. Canada to me is a land of warm people wearing thick coats. And that was what I got. The Vietnamese Association in Toronto welcomed me with open arms. Two showings of BOLINAO 52 brought in about 100 people and approximately CAD$16,000. I got to make new friends and some fantastic memories.
Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara On The Lake
Tôn Thất Hùng introduced BOLINAO 52 to audience
I got few snapshots with fellow Overseas Vietnamese in Toronto
and Young Vietnamese leadership in Toronto, Le Luong, James Nguyen and Tôn Thất Hùng
One of the staff at VAT- Vietnamese Association of Toronto is a Filipina named Lorna Jean Tabulao. She is from the Pangasinan region in the Philippines where Bolinao is located. Inspired by BOLINAO 52 she decided to call for donations and organized a trip to BOLINAO in 2014 to find Caloy Cagusaan, the fisherman who rescued the BOLINAO 52, and give him the money she is raising. It has been at least 6 years since we began doing outreach with BOLINAO 52 and I still am amazed with the effects it has on people. BOLINAO 52 continues to inspire people to take action and this is a tremendous gift the film gave me and the viewers who watched it.
This Holidays Season, please give the gift that kept on giving, order BOLINAO 52 and let its magic spread to your love ones.
The groundwork laid by Bolinao 52 is now being used to create a path by the new generation of Vietnamese overseas to build and maintain the heritage that is so central to our identity and legacy.
A group of younger Vietnamese Canadian in Montreal is taking on an initiative to bridge the generation gap in the Vietnamese Canadian community. Spearheaded by Glenn Hoa, a young Vietnamese Canadian dentist, the Generation's Legacy is organizing events to raise fund for the Boat People Museum in Ottawa.
How does Bolinao 52 play a role in all this?
Last summer, we traveled to Calgary, Canada to attend the "PASS IT ON" conference. The 3-days conference was created to address the generation gap issues among the Vietnamese Canadian population. Its aim is to create a new crop of leaders for the future. Glenn Hoa at the time was a skeptical attendee. But after watching Bolinao 52, Glenn had a change of heart. This is what he wrote:
"Something simple, that a cynical and resistant youth, of any ethnicity,
can watch and be touched by. This is why Bolinao 52 is so important! It
completely changed me! In Calgary, I was just a spectator. Now, in
Montreal, I have hope! And I'm just 1 person. Imagine if there are 10,
20, 30, 100 like me. Wouldn't that be awesome? Bolinao 52 does not give
the answers, but it makes us think of questions. Who in my family are
Boat People? Why haven't I given them more appreciation? If I could do
something to honour their journey, what would it be? If the Japanese
have the samurais, warriors that sacrificed their life in the name of
honour, why can't the Vietnamese 2nd generations honour the Boat People
as their universal source of inspiration?"
So continuing the mission of inspiring a new generation of youth to preserve the Vietnamese Boat People legacy, we will be heading to Montreal, Canada on March 2 and 3, 2013 for yet another presentation. This time, we hope to inspire more souls like Glenn Hoa to build and preserve the legacy of Vietnamese Boat People.
Irvine, CA- October 4, 2011: Duc H. Nguyen, the producer of the EMMY-Award Winning documentary, BOLINAO 52 signs an agreement with the University of California-Irvine Libraries to deposit the materials recorded during the production of the documentary to the UCIspace @ Libraries (http://ucispace.lib.uci.edu). This is an open access service for the UCI community to publish, manage, and preserve diverse research output. This is a the first step of a multi-lateral collaboration between RIGHT HERE IN MY POCKET PRODUCTIONS and The UC Irvine South East Asian Archive (SEAA) to preserve multimedia information on the Vietnamese boat people and make them readily available to the general public.
We launched a new campaign to raise completion funding for STATELESS, a new documentary by Duc Nguyen. Please click on the link below to contribute. Thank you.
Today April 28. We're listened to the radio program while driving to working on your interviews with Hoang Trong Thuy about the Bolinao 52 film directed by you.
WESTMINSTER, California: Hôm Thứ Bảy, 30 - 4 - 2011, cái ngày mà 36 năm trước đây là ngày đau thương của đất nước Việt Nam phải gánh chịu bao tang thương phủ lên đầu người dân miền Nam. Những khuôn mặt ngơ ngác, thất thần chưa hoàn hồn sau những biến cố kinh hoàng của các trận chiến ác liệt từ Miền Trung trở vào Nam. Chết chóc, vợ xa chồng, con thơ quấn vội vành khăn tang với nụ cười chưa kịp tắt trên môi. Một trái pháo nổ, tiếng khóc thét lên quờ quàng tìm hơi ấm của cha, hay rúc vào lòng mẹ, nhưng mẹ đâu còn đâu để vỗ về nâng niu con trẻ, mà tay mẹ lạnh ngắt buông xuôi.
Westminster, CA – 20 tháng 4, 2011: Bộ phim Bolinao 52, một cuốn phim tài liệu về thuyền nhân Việt Nam kể qua câu chuyện hãi hùng của chuyến tàu vượt biên Bolinao 52, sẽ ra mắt với cộng đồng người Việt ở Little Saigon tại Hội Trường Việt Herald, 14861 Moran St. Westminster CA 92683 ngày 30 tháng tư, 2011.
It's been a while since we post news about Bolinao 52. It didn't mean that there wasn't anything happening. Actually, many good things happened. Tung Trinh connected with several USS Dubuque former sailors through social media. And the bond becomes stronger. Here is one letter.
First of all, I want to thank Duc Nguyen for coming to our class and presenting his story to us. I liked his stories. I think they were very interesting and it is a part of my history since my dad is half Vietnamese. Before this lesson, I didn’t really have an interest to learn about my family’s history, but now, I’m so eager. His stories make me question: What happened to my parents while people were trying to escape? When and how did my parents escape? I can’t imagine traveling across the globe with no money, no food, no help and a bunch of people in a little boat. I agree with Duc, Vietnamese families don’t often talk about their painful past. When I ask my mom, she gives me short responses. She told me, my dad and she stayed in a camp, and that’s where they had my older sister. They escaped with a bunch of people and when they arrived to Portland, Oregon; my family was supported by an American family. I learned a lot from Duc. He told us a visionary description of how big the boat was. I really admire how strong the woman was when she drank her son’s urine. That was a very difficult situation. There was no food and she had no choice, but to eat human flesh. I can’t believe Duc actually contacted her and got her to tell her story. When she cried, I felt my heart sink because “When something bad happens to you, you wish it could happen to someone else. Well to other people, you’re that someone else.” I wonder if Duc thinks he’s lucky because he could have been in a much terrible situation. I’m very happy to know that the woman and her son is doing so well in America.
