The Love Market

52 min / color video
Australia 2008
Director : Shalom Almond
In the highlands of North Vietnam lies the remote town of
Sapa, home to a mosaic of colorful hill tribes. Sapa opened
to tourism in the late 1990’s and now roughly 200 hill tribe
girls aged 7-18 years live independently on the streets
of Sapa to sell embroidery. A few years ago Australian
filmmaker, Shalom Almond, visited Sapa as a tourist and
became friends with four Hmong girls. The girls are savvy,
street smart and dream of life beyond selling souvenirs.
But how will these young girls survive the leap from
remote tribal culture to 21st century Asia? Over the next
three years Shalom returns to Vietnam with her camera to
find out.