Upcoming documentary to explore human trafficking in two nations

Human trafficking and exploitation will become a reality Thursday at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium.\nAmy Serrano explores these issues in her documentary, “The Sugar Babies: The Plight of the Children of Agricultural Workers in the Sugar Industry of the Dominican Republic,” which will begin at 2 p.m. A panel discussion on the ethics of documentary filmmaking will follow the film at 4 p.m.\n“The Sugar Babies” is a documentary that Serrano shot in 2005 in the Dominican Republic and is narrated by award-winning author Edwidge Danticat. The majority of the film focuses on the lives of those who work in the sugar industry, primarily children who are being coerced into working for the industry and are not given any legal protection. To Serrano, this treatment is a form of modern-day slavery.\nAccording to the film, the Dominican Republic is trafficking Haitians to its country to work within its borders, primarily in the sugar industry. Because of the Dominican Republic’s labor standards, human rights groups are charging the country with depriving these individuals the rights to due process of law under the Dominican law, as well as with sparking racial tensions. \nGraduate student Dena Williams came across the documentary while doing research on Haiti and the Dominican Republic while at Florida International University in Miami. After viewing the film, she was determined to show it to a gender and sexuality class for which she’s an assistant instructor. Because of its controversial nature, Siren Studios would not allow the film to be shown without a representative from the studio present to mediate any disputes. The film has yet to be released, but instead, Williams was able to reach a representative to come and show the film to the entire university.\n“This film has generated a lot of mixed feelings. A lot of people in Miami feel the film is unfair,” Williams said. “They don’t believe the industry is doing anything wrong. I think it will be interesting to show it here because there won’t be a biased opinion.”\nThe growing turmoil has an effect not only on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, but it also has a large impact on the U.S. Williams said the U.S. imports sugar from the Caribbean.\n“There has been a long-standing political, economic and racial tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic,” Williams said. “‘The Sugar Babies’ sheds light on this historic tension by focusing on a modern-day situation that touches many lives, both within and beyond the Caribbean.” \nWilliams said organizers chose the date for the showing of the film to kick off the annual Cultural Studies Conference, as well as to remind people of what happened in U.S. history as Black History Month continues through February.\n“This is a really great opportunity to make everyone aware,” said Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa Latino Cultural Center. \n“The things we do, have and buy all have an effect,” she said. “We need to educate and get people to think about what is going on. This has everything to do with us.”\nThe panel discussion following the film will include Serrano, Jeff Gould, from the department of history and a member of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Hilary Kahn, from the department of anthropology and a member of the Center for the Study of Global Change, and Christy Ochoa from the School of Law.\n“I want people to learn that this is important,” Casillas said.