POV: Children of the Mist

Photo: Di’s mother distressed while on the phone with Di.

 

Credit: Courtesy of Children of the Mist

Children of the Mist follows the story of Di, a 13-year-old girl coming of age in a remote indigenous Hmong community in the mountains of Northwest Vietnam.

The intimate and personal film delves into the tradition of bride kidnapping that is still practiced by the Hmong, one of Vietnam’s largest ethnic groups. POV: Children of the Mist premieres on Monday, July 31 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

The first feature film from Vietnamese filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm, Children of the Mist is a portrait of a girl in the middle of a community that is stuck between tradition and modernity. Continuing to endure the tradition of “bride kidnapping,” Diễm follows Di as she becomes a carefree child to an impulsive and sensitive adolescent. Children of the Mist was shortlisted for “Documentary Feature Film” for the 95th Academy Awards®.