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The Third Wife
A fourteen-year-old girl falls for another of her polygamous husband's wives in this award-winning coming-of-age tale of love and self-discovery.
Director: Ash Mayfair
Overview
In the late 19th century in rural Vietnam, fourteen-year-old May is given away in an arranged marriage and becomes the third wife to her older husband. May learns that she can gain status and security if she gives birth to a male child. This becomes a real possibility when she gets pregnant. However, her path is fraught with danger when May starts to develop an attraction for Xuan, the second wife. As May observes the unfolding tragedy of forbidden love and its devastating consequences, she must make a choice, to either carry on in silence and safety, or forge a way towards personal freedom.
A winner of the Spike Lee Production Fund, and inspired by the history of director Ash Mayfair’s family, The Third Wife is a coming-of-age story; a tale of love and self-discovery in a time when women were rarely given a voice. Winner of the Netpac award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2018.
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