“Trade of Innocents” takes Best Drama at the Breckenridge Festival of Film

Breckenridge Festival of Film Recap

As the lights in the theater darkened and the audience settled down into their seats, everyone held back their yawns and felt their eyes begin to droop. It had already been a long - yet enjoyable - day for most of those in the audience, full of traveling, walking through the streets of Breckenridge, and mingling at the crowded and lively VIP event beforehand. By the time the movie began, it was already 9 o’clock, and most were fighting to stay awake and alert in their seats. But as soon as the opening shots of Trade of Innocents flew across the screen and music pounded into the theater, the audience was wide awake, eyes riveted on the screen and bodies perched tensely on the edges of seats. There’s no way anyone could have slept through this film.

Trade of Innocents takes its viewers on a journey that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, appalling and enthralling, fast-paced and deeply symbolic. This masterfully woven film took the festival by storm, leaving the weekend with the award for Best Drama and winning Best Director for Christopher Bessette. Its talented stars - including Dermot Mulroney, Mira Sorvino, Trieu Tran, and John Billingsley - draw the viewer into the story, making it feel undeniably close and heart-poundingly real. When the credits began to roll at the end of the night, I was jolted back to the present, a little surprised to find that I was sitting in a chair next to my friends in Breckenridge instead of running through the streets of Cambodia. With a little regret, I realized the exhilarating story was over, and we were all back to reality - but then I had to check myself. Although what took place on the screen was a fictional story, what I had really been witnessing was the awful reality that is forced upon millions of people every day. Trade of Innocents is deeply rooted in reality, because it portrays the horrifically real circumstances of millions of women and children around the world who are victimized and exploited in sexual slavery. Even in the very moment I found myself sitting in a comfortable theater in a cozy mountain town in Colorado, there were children on the other side of the world - and even in my own state - who were being ravaged both physically and emotionally. That knowledge has the power to wring desperate tears from my eyes, and to bring me to my knees in the face of their raw suffering.

But although there were moments during this weekend that were eye-opening and heartbreaking, it was undoubtedly not devoid of hope. At one point before the movie began, producer Laurie Bolthouse called for certain members of the audience to stand, including representatives from Polaris Project, International Justice Mission, Restore Innocence, the FBI, the film’s production team, and many students and other passionate ranks of audience members. These are all people who have had their hearts broken for this cause and have dedicated their lives to stopping the traffic and saving the victims. Simply looking around at the amount of people involved in this fight for justice - and seeing their courage and passion - was overwhelming and inspiring. Throughout the weekend, I was privileged to have conversations with many of these people, and I witnessed the fire in their eyes firsthand. Yes, trafficking is a huge, difficult problem to combat; but there are so many devoted, zealous, and gifted people working in different ways to stop it.

I left this weekend feeling the way I often do about trafficking: devastated, and yet paradoxically hopeful. Trade of Innocents clearly shows that there is a dark side of every human heart, one that makes people capable of the most horrific and depraved actions. But amidst all the darkness shines a light, for there is a side of the human heart that is capable of noble justice, deep compassion, and true love. There is a hero in each of us; we most only decide to be that hero, joining the ranks of those who are already engaged in this worthy fight. Human trafficking and modern-day slavery may seem like a massive, faceless epidemic, but it is an intensely personal and real specter in the lives of so many innocent victims every day. Individual human beings experience the real horrors and brutality of slavery; so it must be individual human beings who take up the torch and lead the way to rescue and redemption.

On June 9, the producers of ‘Trade of Innocents’ debuted their film at the Breckenridge Festival of Film in Breckenridge, Colorado and were honored with the award for Best Drama.  The reviewers of the festival also honored Christopher Bessette Writer/Director with the “Best Director” award for this year.   For more information about the festival visit our website at www.tradeofinnocentsmovie.com.