How to help quit pornographyEduardo Verástegui is a Mexican actor and film producer who converted to Catholicism a few years ago. Since then, he has dedicated his projects to the promotion of Christian values. He believes that art "has the power to inspire" and therefore participates in films that make "a difference in the lives of others".
Its latest major initiative is "Sound of freedom"("Sonido de libertad", in Spanish), a film that opens on July 4. It stars Jim Caviezel, the actor everyone knows for playing the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ".
"Sonido de libertad" is a drama that deals with the child trafficking industry for sexual exploitation. Inspired by the work of Timothy Ballard, an American activist, Verástegui has had this project at heart for eight years. In this interview with Omnes he talks about why he decided to undertake such a difficult initiative, the fruits he expects from it and his meeting with Ballard.
Why are you starting this project?
- Normally, we, as filmmakers, are looking for high-impact projects that have the potential to entertain on the one hand, and make a difference in the lives of others on the other. Taking on the responsibility of knowing that whatever you do, whether you like it or not, is going to have an impact on the way people think, for better or for worse. For us it is very important to get involved in projects that help the audience to love more, to forgive more, to complain less, to want to become the best version of themselves, to reach their maximum potential to make this world a better place...
I believe that with art you can motivate and excite people. You can encourage them to want to do great things. Art has that power to inspire. I think there's nothing more beautiful than coming out inspired after reading a book, reading a poem, listening to a song, watching a movie... To be inspired by something is incredible. It's like feeling alive. You even feel loved. When something inspires you, you feel love and you want to give that love.
So, normally, we are looking for projects that have all those ingredients. But, suddenly, this film, "Sound of freedom", found us. We didn't go to it, but I was working on the presentation of "Little boy", my last film, and a person came and told me at the end that he wanted to talk to me. This person introduced me to Tim Ballard eight years ago in Los Angeles (California). That's where it all started.
What happened in that meeting with Tim Ballard and how did it inspire this film?
- When I discovered what Ballard was doing with his team, those former "navy SEALs", former FBI agents, former military, young people who travel undercover in different parts of the world visiting the darkest places on the planet, rescuing kidnapped children for sexual exploitation... I was in shock, I couldn't say anything. Then I started asking a lot of questions. I wanted to know if all that was real, in what places it was happening, if they were isolated cases or not. I needed to know if when they used the word "children" they meant teenagers or young children....
Then they explained to me in detail what happens to millions of children around the world, mainly in the United States and Mexico. The United States is the number one consumer of sex with children, and my country, Mexico, is its main supplier. Of the consumption of child pornography in the world, mainly in the United States, 60 % is produced in Mexico. A Catholic country, a country where we celebrate family and values, good and beautiful things, precious traditions... How can this be true?
What was your response to everything you were told?
- I asked myself: What am I going to do? Now that I know, what am I going to do? I could fold my arms, look the other way as if nothing was happening... But the reality is that evil triumphs when people remain silent.
At that moment it became clear to me that I was not going to remain silent, I was not going to be indifferent to this. I closed my eyes and imagined that a victim of trafficking was my own son. What if my son disappeared? What if I came home one day and, upon opening the door to his room, discovered that the bed was empty? What if the chances of finding him were almost nil? 99 % of victims do not turn up.
I went crazy. Just thinking about it and imagining it brought tears to my eyes. My heart started crying and it hasn't stopped for the last eight years.
I told myself that I am a filmmaker and that means I have a very powerful weapon, film. It is a weapon of instruction and massive inspiration. I decided to make a film of a chapter of Tim Ballard's life.
This movie has brought a lot of tears to my eyes and the reality is that it makes your life difficult. But you either sit around and do nothing, depressed, or you do something that gives hope. For me, Tim Ballard gave me hope.
The plot of the film is very tough, but the title is very hopeful. Why did you choose that name?
- When the film's director, Alejandro Monteverde, and I interviewed Tim Ballard, we asked him about his most dangerous and successful rescue. It happened in Cartagena, Colombia. Ballard told us about a rented island where there was going to be a party with children. He and his team were going undercover so that when the traffickers arrived, they could arrest everyone involved.
When they rescued the children, the little ones were crying. But they began to sing. They were celebrating their freedom. Tim Ballard was under arrest, because he was still in his undercover role, and he said that at that moment, the children's singing was a sound of freedom. That's where the title of the film came from.
What is your dream with this film?
- What we want to do is to give hope, even though the subject is so painful. It is something that is hurting thousands of children, but there is hope. There are many rescued children, who thanks to the work of many foundations around the world, are rehabilitated, heal their wounds, and are integrated into society.
I want there to come a day when we no longer have to rescue any more children, I want there to be no one to rescue, because human trafficking will disappear. I am an optimist and a dreamer. I believe that if we all cooperate and do what God asks of us, imagining that these children are our children, we can put an end to this terrible reality. However, the truth is that there are many open fronts.
What fronts are we talking about? What are we facing?
- The first thing we must do is put an end to pornography. The pornography is what leads us to this, but people don't realize it. When you start watching pornography, you start to generate an addiction.
When one starts with pornography, not only are their families and marriages destroyed, but these people become hooked on more perverse things, such as child pornography. After becoming addicted to child pornography, they become customers. There is tremendous demand and the industry keeps growing and growing.
We have to be careful about what we see. We are all the target audience. We have to be vigilant, because we are fragile and vulnerable beings. Temptations are everywhere, even if they are small. However, he who is unfaithful in small things is also unfaithful in big things.
The process is similar to that of drugs. You start by smoking a cigarette and then you destroy your life with syringes. It's the same here. You start seeing the woman as an object, instead of respecting her dignity. We men are there to protect women, not to use them.
The moment we reduce women to an object or sex symbol, the next thing we need is even more. We cannot disrespect a woman because she is a daughter of God and God is respected. Whoever hurts a daughter of God will have to meet with Him and be accountable to Him.
You are in the film industry, where child abuse is very common. Considering that you have entered the lion's den, what do you expect from the film?
- That is where we have to enter. The light must be brought into the darkness. Where there is darkness you have to light a candle. I hope that this film will be seen by everyone, including the criminals, delinquents and bandits who are involved in this crime.
I hope that after watching the movie something will happen inside them and they will repent for all the evil they have done. For those who do not repent and continue with these activities, I hope the movie will awaken an army of brave people who will go after the offenders. I am not a legislator, but I would punish anyone who sexually abuses a child to at least 100 years in prison.
I think this global awareness movement that the film is triggering is going to do a lot of good. Both for children and adults. I want it to do good also to the most vulnerable, to those who have no voice and cannot defend themselves.
I am giving my life in this project. God's children are my children, and for them I give my life. That is the universal principle I follow.
