families in focus

CHILDREN OF THE MIST
(Những đứa trẻ trong sương)

Hà Lệ Diễm
Vietnam 2021 | 90 Min. | engl. subtitled

Thu, 18-May-23 07:30 PM
Q&A with:
Hà Lệ Diễm

We are in a moun­tain vil­lage of the Hmong, mem­bers of an ethnic minor­i­ty in north­west Viet­nam. For three years, Hà Lệ Diễm has come here again and again, befriend­ing the lively twelve-year-old Di and par­tic­i­pat­ing in the small strug­gles of her grow­ing up. Events con­verge on the ten­sion between tra­di­tion and the grow­ing eman­ci­pa­tion of a young gen­er­a­tion that is begin­ning to look out­wards.  

During the New Year’s fes­ti­val, it is cus­tom­ary for young men to kidnap the girls of their choice, often vio­lent­ly, often while they are still very young. Many girls are sub­se­quent­ly forced into mar­riage by their fam­i­lies. Di, too, is torn between first flir­ta­tions and resis­tance to an early for­eign deter­mi­na­tion that abrupt­ly ends her child­hood and, most impor­tant­ly, deprives her of any fur­ther edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty. Diễm’s sen­si­tive debut fea­ture is aston­ish­ing in its rev­e­la­tion of this web of com­plex rela­tion­ships. With impres­sive hon­esty, it main­tains a bal­ance between expe­ri­enc­ing and con­vey­ing. 

Hà Lệ Diễm, stud­ied jour­nal­ism in Hanoi jour­nal­ism, earn­ing her diplo­ma in 2013. CHILDREN OF THE MIST is her first doc­u­men­tary to be sup­port­ed by a grant from the Sun­dance Insti­tute Doc­u­men­tary Film Pro­gram and received the Best Direc­tor Award at IDFA in 2021. 

Direc­tor, cin­e­matog­ra­phy: Hà Lệ Diễm
Editor: Swann Dubus
Music: Nick Norton-Smith
Pro­duc­tion: Swann Dubus for Varan Viet­nam, Thao Tran Phuong
Dis­tri­b­u­tion: CAT&Docs

FOUR JOURNEYS

Louis Hothothot
China, Netherlands 2021 | 112 Min. | engl. subtitled

Sat, 13-May-23 04:00 PM
Q&A with:
Louis Hothothot
Louis Hothothot was born as an ille­gal second child in China, his par­ents got severe­ly pun­ished and had to cope with bitter con­se­quences. After stay­ing for years abroad, the film­mak­er … read more

LIFE OF IVANNA
(Жизнь Иванны Яптунэ / Zhizn Ivanny))

Renato Borrayo Serrano
Estonia, Finland, Norway, Russia 2021 | 79 Min. | engl. subtitled

Sat, 13-May-23 01:30 PM

Sat, 20-May-23 07:15 PM
Q&A with:
Renato Borrayo Serrano
Ener­getic Ivanna lives with five chil­dren in a tiny sled car. She belongs to the nomadic Nenets, who breed rein­deer in the Arctic tundra. It is a rough but also … read more

WHAT REMAINS ON THE WAY
(LO QUE QUEDA EN EL CAMINO)

Danilo do Carmo, Jakob Krese
Brazil, Germany, Mexico 2021 | 93 Min. | engl. subtitled

Fri, 19-May-23 04:30 PM
Q&A with:
Arne Büttner
Those flee­ing pover­ty or vio­lence and per­se­cu­tion must be good on their feet. A woman with four chil­dren choos­es the long march from Guatemala through Mexico, like many others hoping … read more