Pao's Story

This is a story from an ethnic group in Vietnam called Mong. Pao lives in a small village surrounded by an extremely beautiful landscape. One day she returns from the market to find the house empty. Her mother has disappeared – people are searching desperately but cannot find her. The only trace is in the river: a skirt that belongs to her mother. This is taken as a sign that she has perished.

Pao’s Story is about love, for one’s parents but also about Pao starting to fall in love herself. It is also about women who live according to traditional patterns but want to emancipate themselves.

This was Vietnam’s Oscar nomination. Do Thi Hai Yen, who also appeared in At the Height of Summer, interprets the role of Pao marvellously. tlå