Fox 29 News | January 17, 2019
‘From Liberty to Captivity’ takes a look at sex trafficking in Pennsylvania
Times Publishing |
2019 New Hope Film Festival Wrap Up
by Lisa DeAngelis
The 10th Annual New Hope Film Festival Awards Ceremony Gala took place on Sunday, July 28 at the New Hope Arts Center. Doug Whipple, President, welcomed the audience and talked about how far the event has come from its inception to this year when 89 independent films from 17 countries, and 27 original scripts competed for the awards.
Mayor Larry Keller came on stage to talk about his affection for New Hope and its long-time support of the arts. He called the town “eclectic,” a description that was echoed many times in acceptance speeches. Founding members Thom Mulligan and Danny Sailor also attended.
Director Debbie Wright took home the Cultural Spirit Award for From Liberty To Captivity, her tough examination of sex trafficking in the state of Pennsylvania, complete with the stories of unsung heroes (abolitionist citizens, front line workers, educators, law enforcement personnel, etc.) who are on the battlefield fighting for freedom. On stage Wright said that although the film was nominated for more than one award, the Cultural Spirit Award was the one she wanted most because her film, more than anything else, is about the “spirit” of abolition. Her film honors both the abolitionists who ended slavery in Civil War times and those today who find themselves having to fight modern day slavery a hundred and fifty years later.
The most emotional moment in the Awards Ceremony was when a veteran came up to accept the award in director Tom Phillips place for Vietnam Aftermath and received a standing ovation. “For years, many veterans of this war refused to talk about their experience. Now, however, as many begin to die out, four Vets that belong to the New Jersey Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial share their stories for the first time.”
The Beyond 60 Project, a documentary feature film about women over the age of 60, won two awards: Audience Favorite for Best Documentary and the Female Eye Filmmaking Award for Melissa Davey, a wife, mother, grandmother, and world traveler who lives in Valley Forge, PA. Her film proclaims, “A woman’s age is not her story.” Davey feels that “from a very early age, women are made to believe that our relevance has an expiration date. Showing us the power of resilience, defiance, and the wisdom of experience, The Beyond Sixty Project will challenge the way we think about aging and the value of our own stories.” Davey’s message when she accepted her awards was, “Never assume you are too old to do anything.”
Two women who travelled all the way from Australia accepted the Indie Spirit Award on behalf of director Christopher Kay for Just Between Us, the story of “An unadventurous people pleaser and her childhood friend who set off on a road trip—along with the ghost of her late sister.”
Best Animated Film went to Eagle Feather, “a family friendly story about Elizabeth, a young American Indian girl and her single father as they journey into the wilderness to search for her first ceremonial eagle feather,” directed by Steve Encell.
Let It Go: The Cat Thief, directed by Jonathan Raines, won Best Music Video for his story of a woman who is, “Office worker by day and diamond burglar at night; she is the Cat Thief.”
Accepting his Best Period Script Award, for The O’Malley, John F. Sarno described New Hope as a “gracious and beautiful community, and a welcome respite from New York City.”
Requite, by James Castagno, won Best Script for his screenplay about “the murder of an uncle that turns a veteran’s thoughts to a quote by Alexander Pope.”
Finally, Best Picture was won by Piotr Szkopiak for his film The Last Witness, “a political thriller based on the harrowing true events of Joseph Stalin’s Katyn Massacre in Spring 1940.”
If there was a consistent theme among recipients, it was that The New Hope Film Festival’s treatment of filmmakers and screenwriters is much better than many others of its kind. As one award winner exclaimed, “Doug Whipple actually responds to emails!” Another sort of consensus seemed to be reached when nearly every recipient expressed the wish to move to the town of New Hope, and those who had moved away, like Thom Mulligan, reported that they come back every chance they get.
Almost without exception, award recipients praised New Hope as a beautiful, nurturing, tolerant community, and one that was most fittingly named. “Yes, I have found hope in New Hope,” said Chelsea Goodman, who won Best Webisode for Epic Quest which will now be made into a series. She is one of many artists who will have the opportunity to parlay their win in New Hope into even bigger success.
PHOTO CAPS: 1. Debbie Wright (left), of Upper Makefield, receives her “Cultural Spirit” award for documentary, “From Liberty to Captivity,” as Anita Neas and Thom Mulligan look on.
2. Vietnam veteran Gary Monsees accepts the “Short Documentary” award for the filmmakers who won for “Vietnam Aftermath.”
Times Publishing |
‘From Liberty To Captivity’ Garnering Awards And Developing Education Capacity
“From Liberty to Captivity,” a feature-length documentary about sex-trafficking in Pennsylvania, began on the night Debbie Wright watched from a window of her home in a sleepy river town in Bucks County as FBI agents raided her neighbor’s house and confiscated videos of young children being brutally raped and tortured.
Her film was born of the horror and repulsion she felt at witnessing firsthand one way, but certainly not the only way, the modern-day slave trade operates.
In the following years, Debbie would educate herself in the many methods of exploiting the vulnerable that are practiced all over the world, and are especially active in the I-95 corridor of our own Pennsylvania, ironically a state with so rich an abolitionist history.
The film has won several prestigious awards, among them, Top Indie Film Awards for Best Documentary Feature, Best Message, and Best Editing, and Best Documentary at the Philadelphia Independent Film Awards Festival.
It has been chosen as an Official Selection for film festivals in Virginia and New York.
It was a Finalist for The Monthly Film Festival (TMFF) and an Official Selection for the Dumbo Film Festival.
Last January, which is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick presented Debbie with the flag that was flown over the US Capitol and the Proclamation that was read by House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi at the request of Congressman Fitzpatrick, in honor of the film’s Leadership Team for their “Mission to Shine a Light on the Reality of Sex Trafficking.”
The film has been shown at universities, colleges, social service agencies, independent theaters, and churches across many counties in Pennsylvania, as well as having its New England premiere in the Boston area.
Other screenings in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Arizona, and California are in preparation.
Recently it was announced that Kim Checkeye has joined the film’s Leadership Team to work with Debbie on the development of the vision and blueprint for the education arm of From Liberty to Captivity, which will include the design of curricula and the conducting of training sessions for students, front-line workers (teachers, social workers, health care workers, etc.) and the general public, utilizing the film itself and customized, edited segments of the over 100 hours of footage that wasn’t used in the film from over 60 survivors and experts.
The plan is for Kim to ultimately lead the implementation and operations of FLTC’s education arm.
Like many of us, she was at one time naïve about the rising epidemic of human trafficking in our community and the world.
Once she realized the gravity of circumstances surrounding the sex trade, like Debbie, she could not sit back and do nothing as the greatest injustice in the world today unfolds.
Kim is well qualified to join Debbie in the fight having trained law enforcement, service providers, front line workers, attorneys, health care providers and community groups, as well as having assisted on several sting operations to provide direct services.
Kim is also an advisor to the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, where she assists on the rapid referral process, membership and advises residential programs across the nation.
The mission of the FLTC’s education arm is to educate and train both the private and public sector on the pervasive reality of sex trafficking and equip professionals and communities to identify victims and assist survivors.
From Liberty to Captivity will come to The New Hope Film Festival this summer, July 19th-28th, as one of its scheduled features and will be shown on July 20th.
Tickets can be purchased at newhopefilmfestival.com/tickets.
WBCB News |
Human Trafficking Documentary Reveals Dark Truth In Bucks
January brings the focus on human trafficking, and a local film company is trying to raise awareness of what’s happening in your own backyard. The Crossing, located at 1895 Wrightstown Road, is hosting a documentary screening of “From Liberty To Captivity” next week.
Showing for a second time on Monday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m., the documentary features the realities of trafficking filmed in Pennsylvania.
Life Care Advocate at Bucks County Elder Law Sarah Floyd believes the film is an important watch for seniors.
“Human trafficking is our new slavery,” Floyd said. “You think this only happens in Africa or other places, well it’s happening in Bucks County. It’s really important that [seniors] stay plugged in politically, community wise, with what’s going on in our county, state, and country.”
Like its first screening on Jan. 4, a 20 minute panel of local experts will help viewers talk through any questions the film might bring up. With help from the Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking, The Synergy Project, and Worthwhile Wear/The Well, the event aims to educate the community.
From Liberty To Captivity is the vision of Director and producer Debbie Wright. as a way to reach people about something lurking the the darkest crevices of society.
“Like so many people, I was not aware that sex trafficking was an issue in America, and certainly not in Bucks County,” Wright said. “As I learned the shocking reality, and more importantly, the impact that citizens can have on this issue, I felt compelled to bring the truth, inspiring stories and this message of hope to our state and nation.”
Due to the sensitivity of the topic, no unaccompanied minors under the age of 18 will be allowed. An option is available for parents who cannot leave their children at home, but don’t want them watching. Fun activities for children 5 years old and younger are available throughout the screening.
A trailer for the movie can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3icZSqlAfM
Link to article: http://www.wbcbnews.com/blog/human-trafficking-documentary-reveals-dark-truth-in-bucks/
Times Allen Publishing | August 8, 2017
Local activist battling human trafficking in PA
by Lisa DeAngelis
If you read that slavery was thriving in Pennsylvania, would you believe it?
Debbie Wright wouldn’t have – until one night when she watched as FBI agents raided her neighbor’s house for possessing videos of young children being brutally raped and tortured.
Debbie doesn’t live in a city. She lives in a little river town in Bucks County.
Debbie became driven to find out how this could be going on in Pennsylvania, a state with such a rich history of abolitionism. Debbie became an abolitionist herself and what she has found out about sex trafficking, the modern-day version of slavery, was very disturbing.
Debbie hastens to report that this is not something that only happens in India or Eastern Europe. The reality is that human trafficking is a plague that has quietly spread across America to every state, in towns and cities and suburbs of every size and type, where victims have been dragged across our state and US borders.
Increasingly younger and younger children are being rented out to be raped, every single day, every single hour for profit. Debbie was so horrified at the magnitude of the problem that she left her career in the pharmaceutical industry and dedicated herself to producing a documentary to increase public awareness.
Along the way, she learned a lot.
Trafficking is built on the economic principle of supply and demand. Today’s traffickers are often highly educated and very savvy about advertising on the Internet, while avoiding prosecution.
Their hunting grounds are often the very places your children frequent: coffee shops, outlet mall stores, sporting events, even family vacation hotels.
Traffickers are shrewd about selecting victims. Factors that make people most susceptible to trafficking are low self-esteem, experiencing abuse or neglect, being in foster care, being homeless, living in poverty, and identifying as LGBT.
Debbie says that traffickers “fish for what sticks and what doesn’t stick.”
Whatever it is that the individual feels lacking in life and so desperately seeks, the trafficker provides, at least for a while.
Then come threats and manipulation to ensure cooperation. By then, the victim may no longer feel capable of leaving even if the opportunity presents itself.
One of the reasons Pennsylvania is particularly attractive to traffickers is geography. The “Keystone” state makes transporting human beings for sale particularly easy, lying as it does along the I-95 corridor.
Pennsylvania provides access to seaports, airports and train stations, as well as being a destination state for big conventions and sporting events.
While Pennsylvania used to be one of the states least likely to hold traffickers accountable and also least able to protect victims, recent strides have been made in legislation and rehabilitation of victims.
The prevalence and the horrific consequences that victims suffer led Debbie to form the Do What’s Wright Production Company and to make the documentary “From Liberty To Captivity,” which she hopes, with the help of the public, will come out in 2018.
Debbie says, “Getting this far is nothing short of a miracle.”
There were times when she wasn’t sure how she was going to pay her electric bill and wondered if the documentary would ever make it to completion. Then just when she was ready to give up, something would always happen to keep her going.
Like the time a letter arrived in the mail with five dollars in it that read, “I heard your ad and could not help crying. I have six children myself and when I hear stories about these children being abducted or sold as sex slaves, I hug my kids even tighter. I don’t have a lot to give, but your cause is definitely worth more than what is in this envelope. May God be with you as you complete this project.”
That is Debbie’s mission now, to complete the documentary and show the movie in all 67 Pennsylvania counties because that is the goal – to make people aware that it’s taking place in their own backyards, to stand together and say, “Not in my neighborhood.”
If you would like to help finish the film and get it up on the screen, maybe have a fundraiser or a garage sale, Debbie can be reached at wpdeveloperldg@gmail.com.
Depending on the level of donation, your business can have its name on the movie credits. To make a tax-deductible donation, make checks out to Filmmakers Collaborative and mail to P.O. Box 26, Titusville, NJ 08560 or donate with a credit card by going to www.fromlibertytocaptivity.com/donate.
More information about the documentary is available at www.fromlibertytocaptivity.com.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
Debbie asks those reading this, “Please spread the word at your church, your school, your work place, and let’s take back Pennsylvania county by county.”
PHOTO CAP: Federal Prosecutor Michelle Morgan being interviewed for a segment in the film.
Chester County Women’s Journal | January 23, 2014
‘Liberty and Justice For All’
“Like getting socked in the gut” was the way Debbie Wright described her moment of truth.
On a dismal night, Wright—a resident of small Pennsylvania town—watched FBI agents raid a neighbor’s home. Weeks later, an envelope arrived in her mailbox. Sent anonymously, it carried a slip of paper with the typed letters, “F.Y.I” and a newspaper clipping. The article revealed that her neighbor had been charged with having more than 1,000 images of child pornography on his computer and sharing them. The files showed unspeakable acts forced on children—from babies to adolescents. The Pennsylvania citizen’s life, as she had known it, had come to an end.
What she learned in the following weeks changed not only her perspective of the world, but also how she would spend many of her waking hours—fighting for liberty and justice. “What if you found out that the very same places you frequented with your friends, and your children frequented, like coffee shops, outlet mall stores, sporting events and family vacation hotels, were hunting grounds for human traffickers?” Wright asked.
Wright decided to leave her job and, with a neighbor, founded a film production company. Their goal: to produce a documentary exposing the current reality of the sex trafficking of minors in Pennsylvania. They made plans for the film, “From Liberty to Captivity,” to examine the stories of victims, survivors, and the heroes who have helped them from era of the Underground Railroad in the 1800s to the present.
Preparations were set to begin filming in October of 2013 when, unexpectedly, their funding collapsed. Wright experienced one of the most difficult days of her life when she called supporters and people who had agreed to be interviewed to tell them the project was canceled. Her emotional devastation was deep.
Three days later, while watching “12 Years a Slave”—crying in the theater and realizing that audience members around her were also crying—Wright received an email saying that a group of supporters from the California University of Pennsylvania would work to save the project. Other abolitionists, including a survivor of trafficking, mobilized to raise funds. Almost as suddenly as the project was terminated, it was back on board. Filming begins this winter to create a trailer for the film projected to be finished at the end of 2014.
By Carol Metzker, author of Facing the Monster: How One Person Can Fight Child Slavery
January is National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Get Involved.
Attend Night of Hope Concert: Breaking the Chains of Sex Slavery in PA
Jan. 25, 2014, 7:00 p.m.- 10:00 p.m.
Location: Living Faith World Outreach Center, 910 S. High St., West Chester.
For information about buying tickets, contact info@dowhatswright.org.Let your Pennsylvania State Representatives know that human trafficking must end. Let them know you support the comprehensive anti-human trafficking bill that will go up for a vote in 2014. The bill, SB75, was approved unanimously by the Pennsylvania Senate on December 10, 2013.
