- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we take you to the mountains of Northwest Vietnam
to a small village shrouded in fog.
Here we'll meet a young indigenous Hmong girl
who challenges her community's accepted practice
of child brides
in Children of the Mist.
Children of the Mist follows free spirit Di,
the main character of tonight's film.
Di is the first generation in her family
with access to a formal education.
Her intelligence makes it even more difficult
for her to accept the custom of bride kidnapping.
It might sound like a gimmick at a Wisconsin wedding,
but in this area of the world, it is actual kidnapping.
That's not to say it's not controversial,
but it is commonplace in this area of the world.
It is illegal but accepted
which somehow makes it even more hard to fathom.
Vietnamese director Ha Le Diem
was introduced into the Hmong culture
while attending college.
It was through a college friend, she met Di and her family.
The director ended up staying with Di's family
to teach workshops on photography and painting.
Soon after, she was rolling a camera
and following the charismatic young Di around.
Given the beautiful surroundings
and what happens amid such beauty,
gave the director the inspiration she needed
to tell Di's story.
The director certainly mined tons of amazing cinematography,
which offsets the fact that her leading lady
will become a hostage if a boy decides he likes her.
In a recent interview,
the director tells a story
of one occurrence while she stayed with Di's family.
As fate would have it, Di was literally kidnapped
right in front of Le Diem.
The director tried to pull Di away from the boy,
but her own grandmother intervened
and stops Diem from helping.
That's when the director learned
that only a biological parent can stop a kidnapping.
Unfortunately, Di's were out celebrating the Lunar New Year
at the time.
Diem's film doesn't judge the community for its traditions
but instead reminds us
the world is filled with girls like Di
and hope that a brighter future is possible
for her and others.
Children of the Mist starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.