Bride kidnapping. What sounds like a practice from long ago or even a tale out of folklore is actually a Lunar New Year tradition among the Hmong community of the mountains of northern Vietnam. First-time feature filmmaker Diem Ha Le explores this controversial custom through the lens of Di, a young Hmong girl, in the fascinating coming-of-age documentary “Children of the Mist”.

Joining Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss her extraordinary film, Diem describes how she didn’t set out to make a film about bride kidnapping, but, eventually, the story led in that direction. How does the issue of bride kidnapping divide parents, the Vietnamese government, and teachers? What drove Diem to enter the fray and become directly involved in the events unfolding in front of her? And what caused the close relationship between Diem and Di to rupture? With no easy answers at hand, it’s obvious that, as the mist clears, the Di at the end of the film will be very different from the young girl at the beginning.

“Children of the Mist” is one of 15 documentaries named to the Oscar Shortlist in the category of Best Documentary Feature and is released by Film Movement.

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