'Children in the Mist' touches viewers' hearts

This is a resounding success when it was in the Top 15 Best Documentary at the 2023 Oscars, winning big at more than 100 International Film Festivals with 34 prestigious awards and nominations worldwide. It was not easy for the film to be present in Vinh, the audience who got to see the film considered themselves lucky.

A clear, honest movie

Recording the journey of growth of a Mong girl in the mountainous district of Lao Cai named Di over 3 years, from a stubborn, impulsive 12-year-old girl to a 15-year-old woman aware of her fate, the film impressed the audience when told from a direct, objective perspective.

A large audience came to the cinema to watch the movie "Children in the Mist". Photo: Nguyet Anh

Not as difficult to watch or dry as many people imagine about documentary films, “Children in the Mist” easily creates sympathy and attracts viewers. Two screenings at Lotte Vinh were sold out. The audience watched attentively and enthusiastically for 90 minutes.premiere. Worrying, heart-wrenching suspense, but also many times bursting into laughter with the innocent words of the children and adults there. The film has many dramatic scenes about the custom of wife kidnapping that are so real it haunts. From there, the lives of the children in the highlands, especially the tears and smiles of the characters, make the audience silently moved.

Movie Poster Children in the Mist. Photo: Nguyet Anh

Lecturer Ho Van Anh said that she and her colleagues at the Faculty of Literature - Vinh University were extremely happy to hear that the film was being shown in Vinh. "When the media mentioned this film, those of us who work in teaching and researching literature were of course very interested and excited. Fortunately, with a great effort from many people, the film was shown and many teachers and students in the faculty tried to find a place to watch it." Ms. Van Anh was the one who registered for the last 15 seats out of a total of 265 seats on the evening of April 15. “The wait and expectation were worth it, the film was wonderful, it moved us deeply. After leaving the theater, teachers and students discussed enthusiastically. Each person had their own perspective, their own point of view. Personally, the film was not aimed at events, nor was it a kind of rigid anti-traditional propaganda. Instead, by trying to depict as realistically as possible, the film showed that, in the intersection between tradition and modernity, there are not always clear boundaries of right and wrong, good and bad. For many hours after leaving the theater, my mind was still filled with images of mist on the mountains and I could not stop thinking about the fate of the Mong people there.”

A scene from the movie "Children in the Mist". Photo: archive

Ms. Le Thanh Quy, a Montessori school teacher who teaches children to be independent early, was also filled with emotion when the film ended. “The film made me realize more deeply that each child’s childhood only happens once in a lifetime and passes very quickly. The sadness and loneliness of a child when growing up and having to face the troubles of the adult world makes me feel extremely sorry. That once again reminds me of the duty of a teacher to preserve and cherish the most beautiful moments of each child.”

A film made by a director who is very young in age and experience, so it is not surprising that many students came to see the film. Nguyen Phan Anh Thu (10C7, Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted) went to the cinema with her mother. Thu said that she found herself in Di's life, perhaps because she and Di are the same age. “The images of ethnic minority students using smartphones to text quickly, knowing how to “flirt” and then prettify themselves by wearing lipstick, mascara, or “falling in love” with someone… are not much different from the students here. But I was really “shocked” by the developments in the film, when Di’s trip to her boyfriend’s house brought a lot of trouble to her. The image of Di struggling, crying and trying to escape from Vang and his family made my heart feel like it was being squeezed. The most haunting thing for me is the girls who were “dragged away” when they were only 15 years old like Di’s mother and sister, Vang’s mother and from then on their lives turned a new page, giving birth and working hard… In the end, Di made the important decision of her life to refuse to get married to continue studying. Wherever, in the mountains or the plains, education is the bright path for anyone’s life.”

Among the people waiting in line to pass through the ticket gate, there were many "professional" journalists and reporters. As the director of many documentaries about the lives of ethnic minorities in Nghe An, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Dung said that the film left a strong impression on him and his colleagues. "After watching the film, even though it was very late, on the station's professional Zalo group, we still discussed with each other, analyzing why this documentary was worth the viewers' money to go to the cinema and why it won so much at international film festivals. For me, the film was beautifully shot. It is known that "The Children in the Mist" took more than 180 hours of tape to film, and after editing those 90 minutes, the crewFilmmaking must be of the “expert” type. The good and lucky thing for a director is to follow the life of a character but not know anything in advance. Certainly, Ha Le Diem, who is both director and cameraman, had to film everything and film a lot, until a dramatic story appeared, then she could calculate how to develop the film's plot. The feeling of watching the film is very touching..." Ms. Anh Dung also believes that, from a professional perspective, reporters, cameramen, and editors learn a lot about the profession from Ha Le Diem's ​​films.

Efforts to bring films to Nghe An

Main character in the movie. Photo archive

Successful and well received abroad, but returning to Vietnam, like the fate of many other documentaries, "The Children in the Mist" did not easily receive nods from distributors, simply because this is a genre of cinema that is very "picky" about viewers.

Mr. Duong Anh Tuan, Manager of Lotte Cinema Vinh, said that “Those children in the mist” was not widely sold but was only an extracurricular experience of an art center in the city. It was the dedication of educators who wanted to create opportunities for students and their parents to enjoy an excellent film that gave the film the opportunity to reach Vinh audiences. Mr. Tuan was not surprised that “Those children in the film” was so warmly welcomed by the audience in 2 screenings, because according to him, they were a “selected customer base”. They proactively sought out the film with the need to enjoy an excellent work of art that had been recognized by the world.

Many of the audience members, who are parents of children, are also excited about this movie. Photo: Nguyet Anh

After 2 screenings on April 15, many audiences who did not have the opportunity to see the film expressed regret. The film producer and organizers decided to hold another screening. This is really good news for those who love the Seventh Art. Currently, more than 200 people have registered with the organizers to own a ticket to enter the cinema on April 22.

The fact that a film that is not popular with audiences and is only shown very "cautiously" in a few places across the country is present in Vinh is truly a cultural highlight of the city. The warm reception of Vinh audiences makes us think more about documentaries that have been famous at international film festivals, but are still "mysterious" to domestic audiences. It also makes us wonder, when will excellent documentaries be supported and given more attention in terms of distribution, so that all the public can benefit and Vinh audiences do not have to search as hard as they do now.