Garo and the Wailing Dragon

Bali is world famous as a tourist paradise but for some Balinese women the reality is more troubling. Approximately 10% of Balinese families are polygamous, and men in these unions often take multiple brides without their spouses consent.  Filmed over the course of seven years, Bitter Honey offers the first in-depth exploration of these family's lives. Women from three polygamous families tell their stories of coercion, betrayal, and domestic violence and share their courageous struggle for empowerment and equal rights. Living in a society where men have authority in many domains, these women have little voice in steering or protesting the conditions of their domestic lives. Yet, perhaps because of Balis world-renowned image as a tropical paradise for tourists, local, national, and international communities have looked the other way. Bitter Honey draws attention to the struggle of Balinese co-wives, documents the work of those taking steps to better protect and empower them, and aims to trigger a wider conversation about contemporary polygamy and womens rights in Indonesia.