I VIEW for Freedom…
Film has long been used as a medium to shed light on controversial and often ignored topics. Human Trafficking is one of these topics. As such, there are many different documentaries and films that explore human trafficking and slavery today from a variety of perspectives. Throughout the month of September, Houston Rescue and Restore will showcase a selection of these films to highlight different areas of modern day slavery and how the community can respond to it. These will all be free events, open to the public, and will take place on each Tuesday night of the month. For a more detailed description of the films and location, please see below.
Made in L.A.
When:
September 6, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Join us as we launch our film series with a “Screen on the Green.” Feel free to bring chairs, blankets, a picnic, and your whole family as we watch our first film outdoors. Free popcorn and sodas will be available while supplies last.
Where:
University of Houston – University Center North Patio
For Directions and Parking Information for the University Center visit the UH website.
What:
This week, we will highlight labor rights abuses that resemble modern-day slavery in our own country with the film Made in L.A.
Guest Speaker:
Laura Perez-Boston, Director – Houston Interfaith Workers Justice
View Film Website
These three women, along with other immigrant workers, come together at L.A.’s Garment Worker Center to take a stand for their rights. Against all odds, these seemingly defenseless workers launch a very public challenge (a lawsuit and a boycott) to one of the city’s flagship clothiers, calling attention to the dark side of low-wage labor north of the U.S.- Mexico border and revealing the social fault lines of the new globalization, including wretched working conditions and slave-level wages.
The Dark Side of Chocolate
When:
September 13, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Where:
Copperfield Church
8350 Highway 6 N
Houston, TX 77095-2002
What:
This week we will examine child labor and slavery that is used to produce the goods that we consume every day by viewing The Dark Side of Chocolate.
Guest Speaker:
Stefano Zullian, co-owner of Araya Artisan Chocolate.
Araya Artisan Chocolate’s will also be selling their delicious chocolate creations at this film screening. Come prepared as you will not want to miss out on their amazing chocolate treats. And there is no reason to feel guilty because all our their chocolate is fair trade. In addition, Araya will be donating 20% of the proceeds from the evening to HRRC. Thank you Araya!
View Film Website
It may be that the treat is the product of someone else’s hard labor. The person who may have sold it or who may have made it may not even be an adult.
The International Labour Organization estimates between 56 and 72 million African children work in agriculture, many in their own family farms. The seven largest cocoa-producing countries are Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador, the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Those last two together accounts for nearly 60 percent of global cocoa production.
And right now, you can still find children working in the cocoa fields as Romano and his crew did in the film The Dark Side of Chocolate.
Cutting Edge: The Child Sex Trade
When:
September 20, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Where:
The Montrose Counseling Center
401 Branard Street, 2nd Floor
Houston, TX 77006
What:
This week we will examine the perplexities of the child sex trade, particularly that involving boys and young men through the film Cutting Edge: The Child Sex Trade.
Liviu follows stories of kids trafficked to Italy, and on the streets of Milan films a fourteen year old boy being pimped by his own father. Over weeks of investigation, several more cases of families selling their own children for sex are documented.
Back in Romania, he hears about an English pedophile/trafficker called “Tom.” Co-producer/director Andrew Smith infiltrates Tom’s pimping network, and films damning evidence of how underage boys are preyed upon and trafficked to wealthy pedophile clients in the West.
Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story
When:
September 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Where:
First Methodist Church – Chapel
10570 Westpark Drive
Houston, TX 77042
What:
For our final film in the series, we will look exclusively at domestic minor sex trafficking through the film Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story.
Cyntoia is tried as an adult, and the cameras are there when she is convicted and sentenced to life at the Tennessee Prison for Women. In the end, we catch up with Cyntoia as she is adjusting to prison, and struggling with her identity and hope for her future.