FESTIVALS: * Cinéma du réel (Paris , France) * Docaviv (Tel Aviv, Israel) * Dok.Fest Münich (Germany) * IDFA (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) * Sydney Film Festival (Australia) * Tempo Documentary Festival (Stockholm, Sweden) * Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece) * Visions du Réel (Nyon, Switzerland) * One World International Film Festival (Czech Republic) * ZagrebDox (Croatia) * Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hong Kong) * Doc Edge NZ (Auckland, New Zealand) * Festival del Cinema Africano, d’Asia e America Latina (Milano, Italy) * Ljubljana Doc Film Festival (Slovenia) * Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia) * DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (Finland) * Beldocs, International Feature Documentary Film Festival (Serbia) * Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival (USA) * Edinburgh International Film Festival (UK) * Seattle International Film Festival (USA) * Bergen International Film Festival (Norway) * IsReal - Festival di Cinema del Reale (Italy) * DOXA Documentary Film Festival (Vancouver, BC, Canada) * Taiwan International Documentary Festival (Taipei County , Taiwan) * Inconvenient Films Documentary Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania) * MakeDox (Skopje, Macedonia) * Dokufest (Kosovo) * Freiburger film forum (Freiburg, Germany) * Millenium International Documentary Film Festival (Bruxelles, Belgium) * DMZ DOCS (Bucheon-si, South Korea) * Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival (Germany) * Calgary International Film Festival (Canada) * Asia Pacific Screen Awards - APSA (Brisbane, Australia) * San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) (USA) * Move It! Filmfestival für Menschenrechte und Entwicklung (Dresden, Germany) * Barcelona International Women’s Film Festival (Spain) * Cork Film Festival (Ireland) * True/False Film Fest (Columbia, MO, USA) * One World Romania (Bucharest, Romania) * HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival (Oslo, Norway) * Doc Cévennes - Festival international du documentaire en Cévennes (Lasalle, France) * Astra Film Festival (Sibiu, Romania) * Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival (Ankara, Turkey) * Film Festival della Lessinia - FFDL (Bosco Chiesanuova, Italy) * Guanajuato International Film Festival Expresion En Corto (San Miguel de Allende, Gto., Mexico) * One World Slovakia (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) * Le Grand Bivouac (Albertville, France) * Escales Documentaires - Festival International du documentaire de Création à La Rochelle (France) * Black Movie Festival (Genève, Switzerland) * FEST New Directors | New Films Festival (Espinho, Portugal) * Ramdam Festival (Tournai, Belgium) * Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (Poland) * Terre de Femmes - FrauenWelten Filmfest (Tübingen, Germany) * Costa Rica International Film Festival (San José, Costa Rica) * FIFE - Festival du film d'éducation (France) * Budapest International Documentary Festival (Hungary) * Cambodia International Film Festival (Cambodia) * LICHTER - Frankfurt International Film Festival (Germany) * Festival International du Film D'Amiens - FIFAM (France) * ACT Human Rights Film Festival (Fort Collins, USA) * Silk Road International Film Festival (Beijing, China) * Screenwave International Film Festival (Australia) * Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival (Spain) * Macao International Documentary Film Festival (Macao) * Berlin Human Rights film festival (Berlin, Germany) * KASKcinema (Gent, Belgium) * Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival - AJB DOC (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina) AWARDS: * Clarens Prize for Humanist Documentary Filmmaking Endowed by the Clarens Foundation for Humanism (€5,000) and awarded to a feature film from any of the festival’s categories (competitive or not), the Clarens Prize for Humanist Documentary Filmmaking seeks to champion the cardinal values of mankind in various fields of social and historical experience. For its elegance, for what it says about the immense difficulty of liberating oneself from the alienation imposed by one’s own community, for the filmmaker’s stealthy yet persevering commitment, we are happy to give the award to this film. Children of the Mist by Diem Ha Le * IDFA International Competition - Award for Best Directing * IDFA Best First Feature Special Mention * Budapest International Documentary Festival - Senior Jury Award and Brave Children Award |
Children of the Mist
Children of the Mist follows the story of Di, a 13-year-old Hmong girl with a dream to escape the destiny of many teenage girls of her ethnic group. Di is fortunate that she belongs to the first generation of children in the village with the opportunity to continue studying into high school. Most of the village women, including Di’s mother, didn’t have this chance. Di’s mother is 34 years old, already a grandmother, completely illiterate, and speaks very little Vietnamese. Di has a chance to avoid this fate by passing the high school entrance exam to continue her education. But if she fails, she may be trapped in the village her entire life...“like a frog in a well.” At school, the teachers encourage students to study as long as possible.But most of the parents prefer their children working in the fields rather than attending lessons. When Di enters puberty, her personality changes drastically within a year: the carefree little girl has turned into an impetuous, hypersensitive teenager. She spends hours chatting on Facebook with boys. She often has arguments with her mother, who forbids her to have reckless relationships. Her mother worries that Di could be harmed or mistreated and won’t have enough maturity to handle the situation. On the Lunar New Year’s Eve, while Di is preparing to go to a street fair, her mother tells her to stay home as this is the most dangerous day of the year for a girl. She should not go if she doesn’t wish to be bride-kidnapped. When Di’s parents come back home at night, the house is silent and empty: Di has disappeared. Her mother breaks into tears realizing that her daughter has been bride-kidnapped. This moment may signify the end of Di’s childhood and the beginning of her life as a woman. PRESS REVIEW "A young Hmong girl in Northern Vietnam struggles against a pre-ordained path in Diam Ha Lei’s compelling first feature." - by NIKKI BAUGHAN, SCREENDAILY "Interview with director Diem Ha Le" who took home two awards at IDFA 2021 for her stunning Children of the Mist, including the Best Directing Award. - by Lisa Abeling (Film Fest Report) IDFA Best Director Winner Ha Le Diem Witnesses Bride Kidnapping in ‘Children of the Mist’ - by Marta Balaga - Variety PRESS PHOTOS 
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