| Human Trafficking | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Original release U.S. DVD cover art | |
| Genre | Drama Crime |
| Written by | Carol Doyle Agatha Dominik |
| Directed by | Christian Duguay |
| Starring | Mira Sorvino Donald Sutherland Robert Carlyle Remy Girard |
| Theme music composer | Normand Corbiel |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Editors | Gaetan Huot Sylvain Lebel |
| Running time | 176 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Lifetime Television |
| Release | October 24 (2005-10-24) – October 25, 2005 (2005-10-25) |
Human Trafficking is a televisionminiseries about an AmericanImmigration and Customs Enforcement agent going undercover to stop an organization fromtrafficking people, and shows the struggles of three trafficked women. It premiered in theUnited States onLifetime Television on October 24 and 25, 2005, and was broadcast inCanada onCitytv on January 2 and 3, 2006. It starsMira Sorvino,Donald Sutherland,Rémy Girard, andRobert Carlyle.
InPrague,Czech Republic, single mother Helena (Isabelle Blais) is seduced by a successful, handsome man and travels with him to spend a weekend inVienna,Austria. He then sells her to a human trafficking ring and she is brought toNew York City to work as a sex slave. InKyiv,Ukraine, sixteen-year-old Nadia (Laurence Leboeuf) enters a modelling competition, without her father's knowledge. She is selected by the bogus model agency to travel to New York with the other selected candidates, where she is forced into a life of sexual slavery. Nadia and Helena are placed in the same house in Washington and become friends.
InManila,Philippines, twelve-year-old American tourist Annie Gray (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) is abducted in front of her mother in a busy street by sex traffickers. She is forced into a child brothel which primarily servicessex tourists, overseen by an Australian man, Tommy.
In common, the girls become victims of a powerful international network of sex traffickers led by the powerful Sergei Karpovich (Robert Carlyle).
In New York, after the third death of young Eastern European prostitutes, Russian-American NYPD Detective Kate Morozov (Mira Sorvino) suspects that these women are being "trafficked" by human trafficking gangs. Kate becomes a Special Agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under her new boss, Bill Meehan (Donald Sutherland), the Special Agent-In-Charge ofU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New York Field Office.
At a party worked by Sergei's girls, Nadia attempts escape but is caught. As punishment, Helena is moved to a location in New York City.
Kate busts a salon where girls are being trafficked from the basement. One of the rescued girls is Helena. She tells Kate about her daughter in Prague, who is successfully rescued by Czech police before Karpovich's men can abduct her. Helena also mentions Sergei Karpovich and implores Kate to find Nadia. However, Helena is killed by a sniper bullet shortly after being moved to protective custody.
In Manila, Annie's mother remains to search for her daughter while her husband returns to the US. Meanwhile, Annie is held at a child brothel, awaiting transportation to the Middle East. She manages to call her mother and they overhear Tommy talking in the background. They later identify Tommy on the street and the brothel is identified by the police.
In Kyiv, Nadia's father Viktor stresses about Nadia's disappearance. He locates details of the modelling agency and infiltrates the organisation by bonding with one of Karpovich's men. He is sent toMexico City to help transport another shipment of girls. He is eventually sent to Washington, where he and Nadia are secretly reunited.
Using information from Helena, Kate locates the Washington brothel. While Nadia is away, ICE raid the brothel. Kate chases Viktor but when he mentions he is trying to rescue his daughter, she lets him escape. Nadia and Viktor are reunited in New York City.
Karpovich gives the name of the Manila brothel to his doctor. ICE raid the brothel and Dr Smith is arrested. However, Tommy is warned by a local police officer on the take and Annie and the other children are smuggled out just in time. The doctor gives the authorities Karpovich's name. Meanwhile, Annie and the other children are locked in a shipping container, awaiting their transportation. Due to missing paperwork and Tommy's execution, the container is abandoned on the docks.
Having no luck finding any new leads, Kate poses as a client on Karpovich's dating website and catches the attention of one of Karpovich's men. She pretends to travel from Moscow and is taken to the New York brothel. With Kate inside, ICE raid the building once Karpovich arrives. Karpovich is killed, along with several of his men. Nadia and Viktor are rescued.
In Manila, another of Annie's captors has a change of heart upon watching his daughter play. He calls the police and alerts them about the shipping container. Annie is rescued, along with the other children, and reunited with her parents. Karpovich's empire is dismantled, many other girls are rescued and his associates arrested.
Human Trafficking closes with images of people walking through crowded city streets, as a closing title caption announces that human trafficking is the third-most profitable criminal business in the world, with as many as 800,000 victims each year.
The miniseries was produced byMuse Entertainment Enterprises for broadcast on Lifetime Television. In April 2005 Muse announced that principal photography had begun and that a Canadian broadcaster would be announced shortly.[1] The miniseries was filmed inMontreal,Bangkok, andPrague and was completed in July 2005.[2]
Human Trafficking received generally mixed to positive reviews by critics.Alessandra Stanley of theNew York Times noted thatHuman Trafficking "avoids the seedysensationalism that cheapens so many television depictions of the crime" and that it is "a harsh public-service message built into a clever, suspenseful thriller."[3]
Tom Shales ofThe Washington Post was more negative as he found the miniseries an odd subject for Lifetime to broadcast. He noted that in attempting to, "expose a worldwide scandal"Human Trafficking, "happens to expose vast amounts of flesh in the process—exploitation about exploitation."[4]
John Doyle ofThe Globe and Mail was also negative towards the miniseries. He compared it to the "searing, shocking and hard to watch"CBC/Channel 4 miniseriesSex Traffic which "suggested a direct connection between the sex trade andNATO officials, and with Western corporations based in Eastern Europe. Doyle concluded that "WhileHuman Trafficking is an international co-production with an international cast, it feels obstinately constructed to satisfy small-minded American viewers.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Miniseries | Nominated | [5] | |
2006 | Directors Guild of Canada Awards | Outstanding Television Movie/Mini-Series | Won | ||
| Outstanding Direction – Television Movie/Mini-Series | Christian Duguay | Won | |||
| Outstanding Production Design – Television Movie/Mini-Series | Guy Lalande | Won | |||
| Gemini Awards | Best Dramatic Mini-Series | Michael Prupas, Christian Duguay, and Irene Litinsky | Won | ||
| Best Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | Isabelle Blais | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design | Mariane Carter | Won | |||
| Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Dramatic Program or Series | Guy Lalande | Won | |||
| Best Sound in a Dramatic Program | Louis Gignac, Michel B. Bordeleau, Natalie Fleurant, andHans Peter Strobl | Nominated | |||
| Gold Derby Awards | Best Miniseries | Nominated | [6] | ||
| TV Movie/Mini Lead Actor | Donald Sutherland | Nominated | |||
| TV Movie/Mini Lead Actress | Mira Sorvino | Nominated | |||
| TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actor | Robert Carlyle | Nominated | |||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Donald Sutherland | Nominated | [7] | |
| Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Mira Sorvino | Nominated | |||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Donald Sutherland | Nominated | [8] | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Robert Carlyle | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) | Normand Corbeil | Nominated | |||
| Women's Image Network Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Robert Carlyle | Won | ||
On October 25, 2005, Maple Pictures released a 2 discDVD set of the mini-series inCanada, which contained interviews with the director and the five principal cast members on the second disc.[9] Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released the miniseries on a single DVD in the U.S. on May 2, 2006, with deleted scenes not shown during the airing on Lifetime, interactive resources, and scene selections.[10] The Canadian DVD is rated 14A; the U.S. release is labeled Not Rated by theMPAA due to enhanced violence of the deleted scenes.