EXCLUSIVE: POV has acquired the Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary Children of the Mist, a film that explores a disturbing tradition among Vietnam’s Hmong minority that involves kidnapping girls and forcing them into marriages.
The vérité film from first-time feature director Hà Lệ Diễm will premiere on the PBS series as part of POV’s 36th season, which launches in the summer.
The central character in the film is Di, a 12-year-old Hmong girl living in rural Northern Vietnam who casually flirts with a boy, then finds herself the target of a kidnapping which could determine the rest of life.
The Guardian called the documentary “shattering,” and awarded it four stars. In a review for the New York Times, critic Beatrice Loayza wrote, “‘Bride-napping’ is a Hmong custom that permits boys, often with the help of their families, to nab girls and detain them for three days.
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