“Sold” is the intense, emotional story of one 13-year-old girl’s quest for freedom after finding herself a victim of human trafficking between Nepal and India. The film, which stars Gillian Anderson and David Arquette, will hit the big screen April 1, 2016.
Globally, the average age of a girl who is trafficked for sex is 13-14 years old, according to ECPAT, a global network dedicated to protecting children. Emily Pasnak-Lapchick, who is the End Trafficking Program Officer for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF says, “’Sold’ humanizes the issue of child trafficking. By pulling us into the world of one child…the film provides insight into the horrors children experience but also illustrates the resilience they have to overcome…”
“Sold” – check out the film’s website here – is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jeffrey Dean Brown (“Molly’s Pilgrim”), executive produced by Oscar winner Emma Thompson, and produced by Jane Charles. Based on the international bestselling novel by Patricia McCormick, which was inspired by true events, “Sold” is the story of Lakshmi who is forced to work in a brothel in Kolkata, India.
Gillian Anderson plays a U.S. photographer named Sophia who tries to rescue girls like Lakshmi, together with NGO workers like Sam, played by David Arquette.
Emma Thompson has said that it’s rare for the art of storytelling to effect change in the world, but she hopes ‘Sold’ will do just that. “It’s a beautiful piece of work, and it tells the unseen story of millions and millions of children.”
Director Brown believes that just as McCormick’s book was a call to action for himself, this new film can indeed serve as a call to global action on child sex trafficking.
“Our hope is that our film will foster global policy change and raise substantial funds for survivors in India, Nepal, and the United States,” he has said. “For me, reading ‘Sold’ was like reading a song/prayer/poem – I felt called to tell this story on film. I saw it visually as I read it and, I responded to the urgency of the issue and the pain this girl felt. I also knew that by telling Lakshmi’s story, we would give voice to the millions of invisible children trafficked every year all over the world.”
(Viewers should know that the film includes depictions of rape, which might be triggering for some.)
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