“People need to understand this is so prevalent," the Hollywood actor and longtime political activist told THR about vulnerable people coerced into unpaid work and not recognized as victims of modern slavery.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Sheen is executive producing the feature documentary To Be Free, which explores the issues and challenges of tackling labor trafficking in the U.S., whether it’s people forced via fraud or coercion to do unpaid work in restaurants, farm fields, construction sites or nail salons.
“People need to understand this is so prevalent and it’s happening under our eyes in the United States and in other countries in the West,” Sheen told The Hollywood Reporter as he jumps aboard director Benjamin Ryan Nathan’s groundbreaking film about a largely hidden crisis of human trafficking impacting virtually every American town and every sector of the economy.
But rather than focus on the cruel labor traffickers, To Be Free uses animation and live-action dramatizations, the inspirational testimony of survivors and expert talking heads to reveal the breadth and depth of the modern slavery problem in the U.S. ahead of eyeing meaningful social change.
Only after overcoming his fear and going to the police did D’Souza win his freedom, become an American citizen, a co-founder of Eyes Open International, a nonprofit combating human trafficking, and a former member of the U.S.
They’re all part of a vast area of abuse on vulnerable human beings, whether it’s homelessness or drug addiction or immigrants seeking a safe port,” he tells THR.
To Be Free, which is targeting a late 2024 release, has also partnered with 3Strands Global Foundation, a nonprofit working to combat human trafficking, to help raise crowdfunding dollars to complete production of the feature documentary.
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vd1n@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Disgusting how it takes rich Hollywood stars to get modern slavery to be talked about.
If you ask me that’s proof America’s done already.
xyzzy@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Considering how slavery was once far more widespread and enforced in the open by the full weight of the legal system, and how this is not a new phenomenon, I think America will survive.
That said, I hope more can be done to shine a light on it and combat it, starting with a means of licensing and protecting seasonal workers.