In Human Kind
A whole industry dedicated to treating human beings as objects who can be forced to perform unimaginable acts continues to boom in the United States. Meet “S,” a sex trafficking survivor turned advocate who’s now fighting to leave an imprint for young girls, young boys and others at risk, so they can avoid the dangers of forced human labor.
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Juancho RodríguezDirectorPeleo
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Gabriela CamineroProducer
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Juancho RodríguezProducerPeleo
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Ivan MezaDirector of PhotographyPeleo
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Stephanie GonzalezMusic By
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Martin DacanayEdited By
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Genres:Documentary, Biopic, Cinema Verite
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Runtime:14 minutes 52 seconds
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Completion Date:April 29, 2019
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Production Budget:2,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English, Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital, RED
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes
Colombian-American filmmaker Juancho Rodriguez has been enamored with the entertainment industry since a very young age, filming home movies and editing passion projects before entering film school. Between 2013 and 2017 he worked in marketing and collaborated with some of the biggest brands in the United States.
In early 2018 he collaborated with recording artist Manca directing the music video for her debut single "Peleo." And a few months later, he dedicated his time to a cause that eventually became In Human Kind, pushing him to debut as a documentarian.
Rodriguez developed the project for almost a year talking with several institutions in South Florida, and finally meeting with his film subject, Shanika Ampah; this conversation led to a rapport that soon became the very story foundation for the film. Within a few short weeks, Rodriguez asked producer Gabriela Caminero to join the project and take on the producing helm.
In Human Kind is his foray into documentary filmmaking, and in his own words "a different kind of story about sex trafficking in Miami, FL."
I'm going to be honest: everything is about sex. No matter how you slice it, sex and pleasure drive our humanity sometimes even more so than power. We're sexual beings, and it's this same drive what has allowed a multi-billion dollar illicit business to flourish behind a facade of excess and beauty.
The topic of sex trafficking has been a somewhat mysterious human issue that everybody seems to be aware of, but nobody really knows that much about. All we know about it is what the media shows us: people falling slaves to criminal rings, Eastern European women being smuggled into the United States, children being abducted by serial kidnappers. However, nobody is really talking about the root of that "traffic."
Yes, it is true that human beings do get abducted and sold in the most horrible ways every day across the globe, and it is a terrible reality; nevertheless, a large-scale problem cannot be looked into, let alone solved, until we, as part of a community, really open our eyes to what makes others believe they can use a person for their own personal gain. Are we just turning a blind eye? Do we not believe something like this can happen to our family? To ourselves?
I wanted to do something as unique as possible with 'In Human Kind' when exploring the realities of sex trafficking. I'm not only making a clear allusion to the sexy curtain that is Miami, but also to the very nature of sexual desire – human beings used as a means for the pleasure of others BECAUSE that same pleasure is innate yet ethereal. And when something is that powerful, it is doomed to thrive, no matter the consequences.