It’s that time of year again: Film Festival Season. With the Venice Film Festival underway, that means that TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) is right around the corner.
Berlin-based sale company M-Appeal, which focuses on original international arthouse and genre cinema, will be hitting TIFF with a pair of female-driven films Michal Aviad‘s “Working Woman” and Ash Mayfair’s feature directorial debut “The Third Wife,” and we have an exclusive first look at the latter.
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The trailer, which we are lucky enough to bring you exclusively, truly encompasses the central themes of the story; themes of women’s sexuality, the growth from childhood to adulthood, and an individual’s struggle within a conservative patriarchal society.
“It is a coming-of-age story, a tale of love and self-discovery in a time when women were rarely given a voice. I grew up in Vietnam, a society that held traditions, history, and community to be more valuable than personal independence. The heroine of this story embarks on a journey where her identity must assume many roles, that of a child, a woman, a wife, a lover, and eventually a mother,” says director Mayfair.
Not only was the film directed by Mayfair, but she, also, penned the story. As a matter of fact, almost everyone involved in the cast and crew of this film is female. And while the men and women in Mayfair’s script are all drawn from real people, the story itself is fictitious. “Both my great-grandmother and my grandmother had arranged marriages at a young age. My great-grandmother lived in a polygamous marriage from when she was a teenager until the end of her life. The history of arranged marriages is deep-rooted and I was drawn to the subject not only because of my familial heritage but also because this is, unfortunately, a practice that still exists in several countries in the world,” stated Mayfair.
As listed above, M-Appeal will be handling sales for “The Third Wife.” M-Appeal’s current slate consists of 5 titles directed by very promising female filmmakers. “The Third Wife” is one of many films coming to TIFF driven by female directors, cast, and crew. The film stars Le Vu Long, Tran Nu Yen Khe, Mai Thu Huong Maya, Nguyen Phuong Tra My, and Nguyen Nhu Quynh. With Julie Beziau editing, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc producing, and Chananun Chotrungroj as the Director of Photography.
The film will have its world premiere at TIFF on Friday, September 7, at the Scotiabank Theatre.
Here is the official synopsis:
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.
