One of the most acclaimed documentaries on the recent festival circuit is arriving just before the year closes out. Hà Lệ Diễm’s Children of the Mist, which landed on our radar at New Directors/New Films earlier this year, and picked up Best International Film at DocAviv and Best Director at IDFA. Capturing the coming of age of the indigenous Hmong community in the mountains of Northwest Vietnam, Film Movement will release the documentary on December 16 and we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer.
In a village hidden in the mist-shrouded Northwest Vietnamese mountains resides an indigenous Hmong community, home to 12-year-old Di, part of the first generation of her people with access to formal education. A free spirit, Di happily recounts her experiences to Vietnamese filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm, who planted herself within Di’s family over the course of three years to document this unique coming of age. As Di grows older, her carefree childhood gives way to an impulsive and sensitive adolescence, a dangerous temperament for what will happen next; in this insular community, girls must still endure the controversial but accepted tradition of “bride kidnapping.” One night, when the young girl’s parents return home from celebrating the Lunar New Year, they are shocked to find their house is silent: Di has disappeared.
See the exclusive trailer below.
Children of the Mist opens on December 16 at NYC’s Firehouse Cinema and will expand.