Can freedom be more frightening than enslavement? Marish has been exploited and abused by a woman for whom she toils as a housekeeper — entirely unpaid performing all manner of back-breaking household duties in exchange only for meals, cigarettes and a couch to sleep on. Marish’s 18-year-old daughter ran away a couple of years ago unable to bear her circumstances, but Marish lives with too much fear in her heart to leave. She dreams of seeing her daughter again, and drawing courage from the filmmaker’s presence, she decides to escape the unbearable oppression and become a free woman.
In August 2014 an Islamic State massacre of unimaginable proportions took place during the rapid invasion of the Yazidi people in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. Yazidis, including the female victims, believe that sexual contact with a non-Yazidi, even through rape, results in a loss of Yazidi identity. The film asks what it means to be a survivor of genocidal violence and slavery in 2016. How does one restore the girls’ dignity and help them heal? How do the women get justice for these heinous crimes? The film delves into the lives of the young Yazidi women. This is their story.
In the last 30 years, America’s prison population has surged from 330,000 to 2.3 million inmates. In this deeply personal and provocative film, Academy Award-winning, director Roger Ross Williams sets out on a mission to investigate the prison system that has helped drive this explosive web of political, social, and economic forces that have consumed so many of Roger’s friends and family. In this deeply personal and provocative film, Academy Award winning director Roger Ross Williams sets out on a mission to investigate the prison system that has helped drive this explosive web of political, social, and economic forces that have consumed so many of Roger’s friends and family. In his search for answers, Roger decides to go behind the scenes of America’s $80 billion dollar a year prison industrial complex. As he explores the network of companies who are involved in this business he uncovers a disturbing pattern of greed and corruption, as well as enormous financial incentives to keep inmate population high, and sentences long.
Harassment, abuse, torture and 18-hour working days. This is the everyday life of thousands of domestic workers in the Middle East. Maids coming from poor countries in Africa and Asia are locked up for years. With their passports confi scated they are unable to escape the omnipresent control of their employer. Maids coming from poor countries in Africa and Asia are locked up for years. With their passports confiscated, they are unable to escape the omnipresent control of their employer. Any immigrant worker in the Middle East needs an employer to be allowed entry. The employer has absolute control over the women, which leads to cases of lack of payment, poor living conditions, severe beatings and rape. MAID IN HELL provides insight into modern slavery and follows agents who vividly describe the trade, and maids who struggle to find a way home after harrowing, and sometimes, deadly experiences.
Right now North Korea runs one of the world’s largest slaving operations. Notoriously cash-strapped, the government is selling its own people as bonded labour, or slaves, to work in Russia, China, and a dozen other countries around the world – including member states of the European Union. Notoriously cash-strapped, the government is selling its own people as bonded labour, or slaves, to work in Russia, China, and a dozen other countries around the world – including member states of the European Union. While in North Korea, they are lured with a promise of high wages and glory for their families. Once enrolled, they find themselves in very foreign countries. Here they work up to 12-hour days under harsh conditions for little pay. Their ‘wages’ are transferred directly to the government, who reallocate it as they see fit. Within the European Union, workers are supposed to be protected — we want to understand how this method of operation is legal, and what — if anything — is being done to stop it.
In the world’s largest democracy, India, millions continue to work in slavery. This film goes behind the statistics and explores how a lack of education and persistent poverty can provide a breeding ground for slavery. This film goes behind the statistics and explores how a lack of education and persistent poverty can provide a breeding ground for slavery. The film follows the story of different children who have been sold into slavery: to work in mica mines, pick leaves at tea plantations, as domestic labour and even as brides. We trace their stories back to their families to understand the circumstances that resulted in them becoming slaves. The film traces the chain of responsibility from the traffickers who facilitate the transactions, to the ‘employers’, or owners, who take advantage of these most vulnerable people, and the police, lawyers and politicians who fail to intervene.