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You can see some of the pictures from the shot of our short film about human trafficking 'Safina' on Soul Rebel Films Facebook page.

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You can now watch our full film 'Safina', based on true story here: https://vimeo.com/84379243. The film was amongst the winners for Unchosen Film Competition. Unchosen is a charity that works to combat human trafficking through highlighting the issue in film and media. 

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This Sunday, 12th January, watch our exclusive doc 'Jungle Surgeon of Myanmar' about a surgeon and medical trainer working with a mobile clinic of the Karen National Liberation Army Nyunt Win, who finds that government moves towards political reform in Burma have not benefited his patients, quite the contrary.

Jungle Surgeon of Myanmar can be seen on Al Jazeera from Sunday, January 12 at the following GMT Sunday: 2230; Monday: 0930; Tuesday: 0330 and Wednesday: 1630. 

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Our latest music video for the amazing Mariana Magnavita. The concept of the video is based on the lyrics for the song - everything repeats itself....

Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. 

Lyrics

Things That Go Around Things that go around will always turn back to you You are made of earth and dust you'll turn to Things that go around will always turn back to you You are made of earth and dust you'll turn to I am made of memories Memories of long ago I am made of memories Memories of other souls Stories of love repeat throughout the centuries Lullabies that represent humanity Even though it seems as if this great machinery Is so different from the way we used to live I am made of memories Memories of long ago I am made of memories Memories of other souls By, time passes by This eternal cycle will collide And free us from our ties Time, time will repeat We will repeat until we've learnt To be at one in peace Stories of war repeat throughout our history Rivalries that represent society And even though it seems as if each war is justified They all repeat the same old power storyline I am made of love and war Love and war of long ago I am made of memories Memories of other souls By, time passes by This eternal cycle will collide And free us from our ties Time, time will repeat We will repeat until we've learnt To be at one in peace

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Check out our Vimeo channel for some amazing free documentaries like this one above - Simply Rob (2011):

A portrait of Bronx based Poet Rob Vassilarakis. Diagnosed with HIV when he was 22, Rob recites his turbulent life story through his evocative poetry.

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The Soul Rebel Team are back from a good trip of pitching ‘Love me or Fear me’ in Leipzig at the 2012 Documentary Campus. Documentary Campus is one of the most renowned professional training initiatives in Europe, running workshops, seminars and events discussing the international terrain for Documentary films.  

Doc Campus is doing great things for documentary filmmakers and as expected gave valuable insights into possibilities both within Europe and internationally. A fantastic experience overall! 

In the meantime back in the office, we are putting together some teasers for the film with the first lot of footage shot earlier this year. So stay tuned! 

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Feminism:  The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes….

It seems easy to call myself a feminist. I support social equality between the sexes, I want to see women with the same power as men and I want women to have the same rights as men.

From women's suffrage, to the civil rights movements of the 60’s, to 3rd wave feminism of the 90’s; a lot has changed for women and their rights.

It’s not enough though, it seems some people didn’t get the memo. In India alone there are crimes against women committed every three minutes. Women are burned, beaten and sexually assaulted at an alarming rate.

Sunitha Krishnan’s 2009 TED talk addresses some of the younger cases of sexual abuse, with children as young as four, being raped and beaten as part of the sex trade. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOumyTMCI8)

Its facts like these which clearly point out that women still haven’t reached a level playing field with the men of this world.

Anyone can call themselves a feminist. In fact I should think most people reading this would. I doubt many people reading approve of the sexual abuse still rife in hundreds of cities across the globe. It’s hardly enough to just say you’re a feminist though.

Men have been aware of the problem for quite some time. Havelock Ellis’ 1916 essay "Feminism And Masculinism" addressed the ideas of society built for men only. The Equal Community Foundation (ECF) runs community programs directed at men. They believe by tackling the perception men have of women they can stop further generations of abuse and injustice. http://www.ecf.org.in/

While there are still men fighting for women’s rights today, such as the ECF and the London Pro feminist men’s group; there is still room for much more input.

From Obama to Cobain, many men in the limelight have spoken out publicly with regards to feminism. There are some men however, who dedicate their lives to the cause.

For our feature documentary, Love Me or Fear Me, we are looking to explore the ideas of feminism through the eyes of two individuals living in India. Stanley and Parashu have go beyond simply labeling themselves as feminists, and work for the rights of women from domestic abuse cases to that of reintegrating rescued prostitutes safely into society.

'We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution.’

 - Victor Hugo, Les Misérables 

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Stanly and Parashuram

As you probably know (by reading the text on the right side of our blog), we, Soul Rebel Films, are developing a documentary about human trafficking. Don't worry it will not be one of those sad films, that leave you depressed and hopeless...Simply because we have so many things to tell.

And it's about time we introduce our heroes!

Stanly and Parashuram are one of those people who make the world a much better place. But how?

Well, to start with, they created a successful organization Odanadi which rescues girls from brothels and rehabilitates them. Over the past 20 years Odanadi has rescued more than 2,000 men, women and children; carried out more than 57 brothel raids and brought more than 137 traffickers to justice.

Another very special thing about these two ex-journalists is that they are involved in every step of the rehabilitation of the girls: they attend lessons, teach them to sing, play and learn about such obvious things like dividing one's day in a daytime and night time.

Most importantly, Stanly and Parashuram are men. Those girls haven't met too many good men in their life, but this couple are like fathers to the girls. On the other hand, Stanly and Parashuram had to earn their trust and respect from local communities, since people found  it hard to understand why men would fight such a feminine cause.

And some still do, but the facts are here - Stanly and Parashuram are heroes. 

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Activists against Human Trafficking

In history there have always been certain individuals who challenge the world and this way make it progress.

Despite human trafficking being an obvious evil, we've learnt it is still extremely hard to fight against it. The main activists would tell you the same thing and one of them is Sunitha Krishnan.

 She co-founded an organization Prajwala, a group in Hyderabad that rescues women from brothels and educates their children to prevent second-generation prostitution. Her success and hard work is amazing: Prajwala runs 17 schools throughout Hyderabad for 5,000 children and has rescued more than 2,500 women from prostitution, 1,500 of whom Krishnan personally liberated. According to her profile on TED,  Krishnan has sparked India's anti-trafficking movement by coordinating government, corporations and NGOs. Moreover, her recommendations for rehabilitating sex victims have been passed into state legislation.

We also found her personal blog, where Sunitha openly shares her thoughts and stories like these:

After my presentation to a group 200 Indians and Americans I found one gentleman giving me strange stares. After all the participants left I found this man still sitting there. And then reluctantly he came to where I stood. Automatically I stretched my hand for a shake hand and a thank you at the tip of my tongue( that is what I was doing for the better part of one hour). The man held my hand and broke down...I was bewildered and confused.And then softly he said "I have raped a lot children...I went to Combodia and Srilanka for them" I was numbed, no words would come out...how does one react to such a statement. In silence I held his hand...and slowly I told him to seek help. For four days I tossed and turned, my sleep lost with this strange incident. For years I had held only anger and bitterness against all perpetrators and now I have one who is seeking my energy to heal him, what does one do? 

With her each post she reveals how important is this cause for her and how important it should be to each and every person. 

You can also watch her TED speech here.

So Get Inspired.

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Projects against Human Trafficking

We've been doing quite  a lot of research for our project 'Trafficked' and it's been incredibly inspiring to see some great initiatives around the globe.

One of them is CNN Freedom Project. It's a media platform designed to highlight the voices of all kinds of slavery victims and activists. They report news, create different initiatives and encourage people to take action. This project truly brings the focus on of the fastest growing crime industry - human trafficking. 

Tony Maddox, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of CNN International, explained in an article on CNN Freedom Project site why they are doing it and how:

For local and national governments it is just one more of a series of pressing problems they must face. The international community has a role to play in forcing it higher up each of these countries to-do lists.

This is not a problem that can be ignored.

CNN will use the full range of our international resources to track and champion this story. We will be in the countries where people are abducted, traded and passed into the hands of the smugglers. We will follow the routes as people are ruthlessly moved to areas where they can generate the highest return on investment. And we will be at the end of the line where men, women and boys and girls are over-worked, raped and abused, and when no longer of value, discarded.

Check them out!

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Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free

XIVth Dalai Lama (via loveisjustice)

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Stopping Traffic tells the unusual story of men fighting a largely feminist cause in Southern India, where chauvinism is strong and sexual abuse highly stigmatised. We intimately follow the journey of a girl rescued from the sex-trade from through the eyes of remarkable journalists-turned-community vigilantes, Stanly and Parashu, who have run their organisation Odanadi, rescuing individuals from domestic and sexual slavery for over 20 years.