The Price of Dreams, 19min., Canada
Directed by Hà Lệ Diễm
At just 15, Ngân longs to study and sing—but in northwest Vietnam, where child marriage and dowries still dictate futures, her life has already been planned. Her dowry—coins worth $400 CAD, a bottle of rice wine, and a kilo of pork—has already been paid. Now, she dares to ask for something radical: to return it and choose her own path. Will her mother agree? Directed by Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm, The Price of Dreams unfolds through Ngân’s own diary entries and reflections, capturing a quiet yet courageous fight for freedom and self-determination.

The Price of Dreams was created in partnership with Plan International Canada and our colleagues at Plan Vietnam. In our storytelling, we collaborate with independent filmmakers to honour the experiences of the people in our programs and to ensure their voices guide the narrative. For this film, we had the privilege of working with Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm, whose sensitivity and craft brought extraordinary depth to the story.

From Plan International Vietnam - Chau Nguyen

Influencing & Communications Coordinator at Plan International Canada: Noreen Flanagan, Creative Director

What motivated you to make this film?

Diem:
When I met Ngân, the main protagonist of the film, she was very enthusiastic about filmmaking and eager to share her story. Her teachers at school, as well as her classmates, were incredibly kind, which made me feel truly welcomed into their world. I also felt it was an important story to share, as it could change other girls’ lives.

Plan International Vietnam:
At Plan International Vietnam, our motivation came from witnessing, year after year, how child marriage continues to shape the lives of girls in ways that often go unseen. While statistics help describe the scale of the issue, they rarely capture what it feels like to grow up knowing that your future may already be decided.

What moved us to support this film was the belief that change begins with voice. Ngân’s story reflects a reality shared by many girls in remote communities yet rarely told from the inside. We wanted this film to be led by her perspective – told in her own language, within her family and cultural context – so audiences could understand child marriage not as an abstract issue, but as something shaped by tradition, care, fear, and expectation.
Like our colleagues at Plan International Canada, we believe that stories create empathy where numbers cannot. This film is our way of showing that even in places where tradition feels immovable, listening can open space for dialogue – and that a single girl’s voice can begin to shift what once felt fixed.

Plan International Canada:
At Plan International, our mission is to champion children’s rights and equality for girls. The Price of Dreams allowed us to shine a light on an injustice many people don’t realize still exists: child marriage. Every year, 12 million girls become child brides – roughly 23 girls every minute – and after years of progress, those numbers are rising again.

But numbers aren’t what move people. Stories do.

And the hope is this: that even in a place where tradition feels immovable, one girl’s actions can lead to a remarkable change. That a mother can reconsider in the best interest of her child. That a community can soften. That a future can open.

That’s why we wanted this film to be told from one girl’s perspective – not as a report. In Ngân’s region of Vietnam, nearly 60% of the population were married before the legal age, most of them girls. Sharing her story in her own language, family, and cultural context gives audiences a way to understand the issue not as an abstract problem, but as something shaped by tradition, expectation, and the quiet pressures of everyday life.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

Diem:
I spent six months filming in two separate phases, followed by an additional two months of post-production in Vietnam. I filmed for a total of six days over two trips to the region. Once in December and then again in March. After that I spent an additional two months in post-production.

Plan International Vietnam:
From our initial discussions with Plan International Canada to the final cut of the film, the process took over a year. The first couple of months were dedicated to an initial scouting process led by the communications team of Plan International Vietnam, which involved identifying – from nearly 29,000 sponsored children across different program areas – girls who wanted to share their story. A significant part of the timeline was also devoted to building trust with Ngân and her family, ensuring that the story was shared with care, consent, and respect. This relationship-centred approach was essential to telling the story authentically and responsibly.

Plan International Canada: From our first conversation with our colleagues at Plan Vietnam to the final cut of the film, the journey took about a year and a half.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Diem:
Bittersweet film

Plan International Vietnam:
Quiet courage (We chose “Quiet courage” because the film shows how change does not always come through confrontation, but through small, brave moments of voice, trust, and dialogue.)

Plan: Tender defiance.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Diem:
I felt quite hesitant and nervous when asking Ngân’s mother for permission to film the moment when she returned the dowry to the groom’s family. I had never met them before, and we had to walk to their house in another village. I knew this sequence was crucial and very important to the film, but it was also deeply private and would have been impossible to carry out without the consent and participation of everyone involved. In the end, it was Ngân’s mother herself who suggested that I come with my camera and who first asked the groom’s family for permission on our behalf. Thanks to her, we were warmly welcomed by the groom’s family, who treated us with great kindness. As a result, we were able to film a sequence that I initially believed would be impossible to achieve.

Plan International Vietnam:
There were no major production obstacles on our side. The main challenges were contextual rather than technical. Filming took place in a mountainous area, and the subject of child marriage touches deeply personal family decisions and long-standing social norms.
Our priority throughout was to ensure Ngân’s safety, dignity, and agency. This meant moving at her pace, being flexible, and allowing the story to unfold naturally. While this required time and sensitivity, it ultimately strengthened the honesty and impact of the film.

Plan: On our end, no big obstacles, thanks in part to the efforts of Diem and our Plan colleagues in Vietnam.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Diem:
This is the first time I have received audience feedback in this way. It feels unfamiliar, yet I am happy to be able to connect with the audience through such a special means.

Plan International Canada:
I was genuinely heartened to hear how strongly viewers connected with our story led approach. For years, audiences have been conditioned to expect NGO films to present issues through facts, figures, and expert narration. We wanted to move away from that – to make something truer, more intimate that brings the audience closer to the real lives and experiences.
That’s why we created our Embedded Storytellers mini-documentary program: to work with local filmmakers who can capture the narrative from the perspective of the girls and communities themselves. Hearing the audience notice that shift – that the film feels like a window into Ngân’s world as she knows it, not an organizational message – meant a great deal to us.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

Diem:
I was originally a journalist and later studied documentary filmmaking. What I love about documentaries is that they teach me how to listen to others and allow me to deeply understand the people who are living in different contexts in places I would otherwise never know so intimately and profoundly without documentary film.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Diem:
The film I have watched over and over again is Nobody Knows, directed by the Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. I am deeply drawn to the films of Kore-eda, Ken Loach, and the documentary filmmaking duo Trần Phương Thảo and Swann Dubus. Their humanistic and compelling works have profoundly inspired me and given me great encouragement throughout my filmmaking journey.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Diem:
Participating in film festivals allows me to watch many new films and continue learning. At the same time, I can connect with other filmmakers and broaden my worldview through the stories they share.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Plan International Canada: Excellent! Love it.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Diem:
I love xôi sắn mỡ hành với gạch cua chưng hành khô, a traditional North Vietnamese winter home-style dish. Soft, steamed cassava sticky rice is gently dressed with fragrant scallion oil, paired with delicately steamed crab roe, and finished with crispy fried shallots.

Plan International Canada: I love a classic panzanella salad.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

Diem:
I am currently working as both director and producer. As a director, I am shooting an independent documentary now, and as a producer, I am building a support network for independent Vietnamese women filmmakers.

Plan International Canada: We’re just completing a film from Uganda about a young girl named Sharon, who was married at 14 and rescued by the aunt from an abusive situation. She’s now back in school, one of more than 110,000 out of school children supported through our RISING project, which is delivered with Education Above All Foundation and Strømme Foundation and backed by Canadian donors.
A beautiful twist to the making of this film: when we approached Ugandan filmmaker Deo Kusemererwa, we didn’t know he had once been a sponsored child through Plan. After learning more about the assignment, he wrote to say, “I was once supported by Plan International at True Vine School in a village called Kyebando, Kampala, so it feels very special to see how our paths have now connected.” Given Deo’s own tagline – Telling Stories for Change – the moment carried its own quiet symmetry. A sponsored child grows up to tell the story of another girl finding her way back to school. It’s the kind of unexpected return that reminds us how change often moves: one story opening the door for the next.