American Documentary

Overview

New York, N.Y. – June 13, 2023 – POV, America’s longest running non-fiction series, is proud to present the Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary, Children of the Mist, a coming of age story of Di who navigates inherited traditions faced by young girls in her Hmong community, with change. The vérité film marks Vietnamese filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm’s feature-length directorial debut. Swann Dubus and Trần Phương Thảo are the producers.

Children of the Mist will make its national broadcast premiere on PBS on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 10pmET/9C (check local listings) and will be available to stream without PBS Passport membership until September 29, 2023 at pbs.org, and the PBS App. In addition to standard closed captioning for the film, POV, in partnership with audio description service DiCapta, provides real time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities.

In Children of the Mist, a village hidden in the mist-shrouded Northwest Vietnamese mountains resides an indigenous Hmong community, one of Vietnam’s largest ethnic groups. The area is 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 director Hà Lệ Diễm who planted herself within Di's family over the course of three years to document this unique coming of age story. 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-catching. 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. Hà Lệ Diễm’s, Children of the Mist is a portrait of a community on the cusp between tradition and modernity, and one girl tragically stuck in the middle.

"I was born and raised in the mountains of Northern Vietnam, in an ethnic group called Tay. My grandfather, a primary school teacher, gave me many books to read when I was a child. Every day after school, my friends would gather around me, waiting for me to read them stories. This idyllic childhood was brutally interrupted when two of my friends got married at a very young age. I never forgot this trauma," said director Hà Lệ Diễm. She continued, "I didn't set out to make a film about bride kidnapping, although it became a very important part of the film. When I first met Di, my main protagonist, she was 12-years-old and playing with friends. I wanted to tell a story about the insidious feelings of sadness and loneliness that we have to face alone growing up."

“In choosing this film, we were inspired by the ability of Hà Lê Diēm to share Di’s story honestly and respectfully,” said Erika Dilday, Executive Director, American Documentary, Executive Producer, POV & American Reframed. “Di’s situation and the challenges she faces are not isolated to North Vietnam but also can be found all over the world, including in the US. In watching this film we see both Di and Diễm as human and we are proud to share this unflinching and layered portrayal around issues of agency, choice and the sanctity of childhood.”

Hà Lệ Diễm’s Children of the Mist, made the Documentary Feature Film shortlist for the 95th Academy Awards®. The film had its world premiere at the 2021 International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam where Diễm won the Award for Best Directing and the First Appearance Award - Special Mention. The film garnered the Best International Film at DocAvivin 2022, and the Documentary Jury Prize at the 2022 Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Photos

Download photos here.

Credits

Children of the Mist

Director: Hà Lệ Diễm

Producers: Swann Dubus, Trần Phương Thảo

Executive Producers: Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary | POV

Editor: Swann Dubus

Country: Vietnam

Year: 2021

#ChildrenOfTheMistPBS

About the Filmmakers

Hà Lệ Diễm, Director, Children of the Mist

Hà Lệ Diễm was born in 1991 in the Tay ethnic minority group living in the mountains of Northeast Vietnam. She left her hometown to study journalism at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, where she graduated in 2013. Children of the Mist is her first feature documentary film project. She is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grantee.

Swann Dubus, Producer/Editor, Children of the Mist

After obtaining a Masters of Literature, Swann Dubus (b.1977) completed a PhD about intimacy in cinema at Paris III University in 2006. At the same time, he worked as a DoP and directed several documentary features in Europe, Africa and Asia. He moved to Hanoi in 2007 and has worked alongside Trần Phuong Thao since then.

Trần Phương Thảo, Producer, Children of the Mist

Trần Phuong Thao (b. 1977 in Hanoi, Vietnam) moved to France in 2000 to complete her dream of being a documentary filmmaker. After graduating with a degree in Political Science in Paris, she studied documentary film techniques and writing at Poitiers University. Back in Vietnam, she directed Workers Dream an official selection at many international festivals and was awarded at Cinéma du Réel 2007 (P. Perrault Award). Since 2011, she directed several documentary films in collaboration with Swann Dubus including With or Without Me winner of the White Goose Award at DMZ Docs 2012 and Finding Phong (Grand Prix Nanook - Jean Rou IFF Paris, 2016.

About

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise, Minding The Gap and Not Going Quietly, and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 46 Emmy Awards, 27 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.

About PBS

PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirm that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Chasing the Dream and Peril and Promise public media initiatives of The WNET Group, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.

About Dicapta

Dicapta Corporation is a communications technology company focused on making media accessible for people with visual and hearing disabilities. It has been offering high quality audio description, captioning, and language customization services since 2004. Dicapta has served the TV industry, media companies, educational institutions, and variety of organizations in making communications accessible to everyone. Dicapta has also been funded by the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Health and Human Services to work in the creation of accessibility assets and the development of technology to improve access to media for people with sensory disabilities.

About All4Access

All4Access is a global repository that stores media accessibility assets such as captions, audio description, and American Sign language. It simplifies the way assets are shared and used while protecting the rights of media creators. All4Access is a technology created by Dicapta and the Universidad Carlos II de Madrid, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education.