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Daughter from Danang

Genre: Documentary

Ethnicity: Vietnamese American
Themes: Cultural Crossing/Return Visit, Cultural Encounter & Misunderstanding, Family and Intergenerational Issues, Identity/Representation,
Individual Profiles & Personal Stories
Date: 2002
Running Time: 81 min.
Directors: Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco
Producer:
Gail Dolgin
Availability:
PBS Home Video
DVD $24.99; VHS 19.99

Also available for rental from Netflix and some retail video rental outlets.

  • Synopsis
  • Reviews
  • Supplementary Materials
Synopsis
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This moving documentary follows the life of Heidi Bub, a Vietnamese-American woman in search of her birth mother. Adopted by a single mother in Pulaski, Tennessee (birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan), Heidi’s removal from Vietnam to the United States was conducted through what became known as “Operation Babylift,” a Ford administration plan that brought 2,800 mostly mixed race South Vietnamese children to the US for adoption. Daughter from Danang follows Heidi as she returns to Vietnam as an adult to meet her birth mother, but discovers much more than the family she left behind.

Reviews
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Elias, Marilyn. “‘Danang’ reopens the hidden wounds of war; Documentary follows daughter’s bittersweet return to Vietnam.” USA Today. March 19, 2003.

Guthmann, Edward. “Worlds collide in poignant reunion in Vietnam.” San Francisco Chronicle. November 29, 2002.

Hoberman, J. “Salvage lot.” Village Voice. October 30-November 5, 2002.

Kelleher, Terry. “Daughter from Danang.” People. April 14, 2003.

Leonard, John. “Daughter from Danang.” New York Times. April 7-14, 2003.

Nakao, Annie. “When reunions go bad and cameras roll.” San Francisco Chronicle. March 4, 2003.

Petrakis, John. “‘Danang’ explores the long-term effects of war.” Chicago Tribune. February 14, 2003.

Ryan, Suzanne C. “‘Daughter’ Revisits Sadness of Vietnam.” Boston Globe. April 7, 2003.

Turan, Kenneth. “Review: Reunion and Hurt in ‘Daughter.’” Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2002.

Supplementary Materials
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Daughter from Danang Official Website
http://www.daughterfromdanang.com/

Includes filmmakers Q&A, reviews, and photos.

Daughter from Danang, Public Broadcasting System
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/daughter/

Includes timeline, interview with the producers, list of further reading (including primary documents on Operation Babylift). Also features a teacher’s guide, though it is geared towards younger students.

“Operation Babylift Through Film: Suggestions for Classroom Use of Precious Cargo and Daughter from Danang” (Sue Gronewold)
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/exeas/resources/operation-babylift-through-film.html

“Teaching Daughter from Danang” (Sue Gronewold and Bakirathi Mani)
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/exeas/resources/teaching-daughter-from-danang.html

Transnational Adoption: Further Reading for Instructors
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/exeas/resources/transnational-adoption.html

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