Stairway Foundation completes its trilogy of short animation films on child sexual abuse and exploitation with its latest release, “Red leaves Falling, A Story of Child Pornography and Child Sex Trafficking.” The film tells the story of two young sisters who were victimized by a child sex trafficking syndicate. Imprisoned in a brothel along with other trafficked children, they were forced into prostitution and used in online child pornography.
Child rights group releases new animation film on child pornography
Award-winning film producer Stairway Foundation completes its trilogy of short animation films on child sexual abuse and exploitation with its latest release, “Red leaves Falling.” The film tells the story of two young sisters who were victimized by a child sex trafficking syndicate. Imprisoned in a brothel along with other trafficked children, they were forced into prostitution and used in online child pornography.
The film’s writer and director, Monica D. Ray, designed the animation to be a creative tool to raise awareness on sexual crimes against children. “We decided to use animation, a very light medium, to communicate a heavy issue,” she says. “Animation can portray realities that cannot be easily communicated in other mediums.” Red Leaves Falling is based on a short story from a book compilation “Black Angels, Street Children Realities” written by Ray in 2001.
For Stairway’s executive director and Red Leaves Falling executive producer, Lars Jorgensen, sexual crimes against children top the list of the unspeakable acts that should never be tolerated in any society. Jorgensen stresses that “as long as there are men who pursue seeing and treating children as sex objects, there will be a continuous supply of children into the sex industry.” In online child pornography, “every click creates a demand. We have to create broad awareness on what a click to a child pornography site really is,” he reiterates.
“Red Leaves Falling” will have its premiere at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, Makati City on Tuesday, 2nd of June 2009. The premiere will be attended by government and non-government groups involved in the lobby effort to convince congress to enact the anti-child pornography bill currently pending at the lower house. Filed in 2007, the bill’s senate version was ‘okayed’ last week after pressures from the lobby group led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Stairway’s first animation film, “Daughter, A Story of Incest” received two first prizes, the Best Educational Film Award and the UNICEF Award at the 2004 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The second animation, “A Good Boy, A Story of Pedophilia” also gained recognition when it reaped two Jury awards at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Film Festival and VII International Film Festival of Human Rights DerhumALC in 2006.
Visit Stairway Foundation’s website at www.stairwayfoundation.org or send email through
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