Star Nha Ease: Children Of The Mist

STAR NHÀ EASE is a nationwide film programme bringing Vietnamese cinema to UK audiences, this year's season shining a light on the Đổi Mới era, the post-renovation period that sparked a wave of bold, commercially driven, and emotionally rich storytelling across Vietnam’s screens.

Not all battles are fought with fists, some are for the right to choose your future.

In Children of the Mist, we follow 12-year-old Di, a Hmong girl from rural Vietnam, as she faces the deeply ingrained cultural practice of bride kidnapping. This powerful documentary offers a rare, unflinching look at Di’s personal battle for autonomy against a backdrop of tradition, family, and cultural expectation. As the film unfolds, we not only witness the personal struggles of Di, but we also delve into the ethical challenges of documentary filmmaking.

The documentary questions the role of the filmmaker in capturing such sensitive subjects while offering a deeply human portrait of rural life in contemporary Vietnam. It is a poignant exploration of resistance, self-determination, and the complexity of tradition in a rapidly changing world.

The screening will be preceded by Xe Đạp (The Bicycle, 2000), a radical animated short made by an all-women team, showcasing textured, paper-cut aesthetics that defied formal norms of the time.