SANDS OF SILENCE: Waves of Courage | This film inspires you to speak out about sexual violence
WEAVE, Inc. the only Rape Crisis Center in Sacramento,
in collaboration with International Rescue Sacramento,
are hosting a Screening of SANDS OF SILENCE and
a Q&A with director Chelo Alvarez-Stehle.
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TheWIFTS Award Jury’s Comment:
“Sands of Silence is a remarkable film, in that through the potency of its storytelling, it exposes the humanitarian issue both on the surface and beneath, of the suffering of individuals affected by this odious crime. The film has embolden others to speak and to no longer live in the ‘silence’.”
TheWIFTS Foundation was honored to count with talented and celebrated actress Julie Carmen (Gloria Milagro Beanfield War, Windows on the World) as Mistress of Ceremonies for the 10th anniversary of TheWIFTS Foundation International Visionary Awards 2017, celebrating inspirational and outstanding women. These ‘women as individuals’ from around the world will receive Awards for their work in Film, Television and Society.
TheWIFTS Mission Statement: To honor outstanding women who continue to “raise the bar” in their respective fields. The Foundation will research noteworthy, unknown or known individuals who have made a difference in their respective communities but have yet to be acknowledged and commended for their extraordinary efforts and positive impact on our society.
Agnès Films, supporting women and feminist filmmakers recently reviewed, Chelo Alvarez-Stehle’s Sands of Silence, documentary film. The review by Julie Caper Roth, says: “Sands of Silence demonstrates that trauma is not merely the plight of women in far-off lands. It can exist close to home and can only be felled by transparency and communication. The narratives contained within the documentary make this film a helpful resource for individuals and groups tackling the issues of abuse and sex-trafficking.”
http://agnesfilms.com/uncategorized/review-of-chelo-alvarez-stehles-sands-of-silence/
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Geolocalized broadcast in Spain’s territories on the occasion of the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
RTVE (Radio Televisión Española),
the country’s public television system which counts with the largest audience.
Read below my #MeToo article published in Spain’s daily EL PAÍS on the eve of the broadcast.
“Eran las cinco en punto de la tarde. Y estaba de los nervios. Mientras escribía estas líneas estaba a punto de salir a manifestarme. A punto de unirme al grito unísono: “Basta de agresiones. Respetad nuestro cuerpo”. Estaba de los nervios y trataba de controlar las lágrimas, porque unas horas más tarde, cualquiera podía ver una radiografía de mi vida. Mi vida y la de mi familia, al desnudo. Nerviosa por lo que supone romper el silencio ante millones de espectadores…”
Broadcast in La Noche Temática
(The themed night), a documentary program that addresses
society, culture and current affairs from different point of views.
SANDS OF SILENCE Film Campaign Featured in Forbes Magazine:
by Rebecca Sadwick and Sarah Godoy
Forbes Magazine – Febr. 29, 2016 – “In a campaign that calls for immediate action, Chelo Alvarez-Stehle’s film Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage has engaged a global community by illustrating cultural and systemic factors that reinforce the sexual abuse continuum.”
In addition to the dialogue and democratization of discourse, free and openly accessible social media platforms facilitate a space for victims and survivors to communicate, access help, and build new communities.
By Chelo Alvarez-Stehle
Feeling grateful when you have plenty is easy. Feeling grateful when you’ve been robbed of the most fundamental possessions in your life: your freedom, your dignity, your sense of being, seems like an impossible task. But not for Virginia Isaias, a survivor of sex trafficking whose journey is part of the documentary film Sands of Silence: Journey into Trafficking, which I am producing/directing and which we hope to release in 2015.
After enduring years of violence at the hands of the husband she was forced to marry at 16, Virginia Isaias left her home in Southern California for her hometown in Mexico. There, Virginia started a business selling clothes to ranchos. One early morning, as Virginia was breast-feeding her baby at a market, she felt a blow in her back. When she woke up she found herself in a shack hundreds of miles away in the midst of the Chiapas jungle. The traffickers told her that her baby had been sold, and using excruciating torture methods, forced her into prostitution.
Virginia eventually escaped and returned to the U.S. . Starting from zero, she cleaned houses and worked for over ten years at a parachute factory, scrimping and saving to buy a humble house. Virginia became a U.S. citizen. In 2010 she created Human Trafficking Survivors Foundation, a501(c)3 in Anaheim, CA. She invested her meager
savings in her foundation, and risked losing her house in the endeavor. With no more resources than her passion, Virginia became a walking hotline. When she was asked to help rescue a victim of domestic violence who had been burned and disfigured with acid and was hanging to life by a thread, Virginia did not hesitate to risk her life and travel far into Mexico. The mothers of the three recently disappeared young girls in Anaheim, reached out to Virginia’s foundation when they felt authorities were not making a huge effort in rescuing girls that allegedly had links to prostitution. Phone calls regarding cases of labor trafficking, sexual trafficking, domestic violence or child abuse, are the norm in Virginia’s day to day. This is why Virginia organizes educational outreach events and has a following of hundreds of Latino women throughout Southern California, many of whom do not speak English and would never think of raising their issues with the police. Virginia is thankful for being alive and everyday she strives to share her gratitude with others in need.
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Virginia was nominated to the 100 Make a Difference project, along with celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow and Maria Shriver to Prince Edward and Eva Longoria. www.100makingadifference.com
Please help Virginia in her efforts by donating to Human Trafficking Survivors Foundation (Fundación de Sobrevivientes de TráficoHumano), a 501(c)3: www.fsth.org (click on “Donaciones”)
Please help finish this independent and labor of love documentary through a tax-deductible donation: www.sandsofsilence.org
