'Sound of Freedom' Director Alejandro Monteverde on Shining a Light into the Darkness of Human Trafficking
PROVO, Utah – Fresh from a star-spangled opening on July 4th, the new motion picture Sound of Freedom enters its first full weekend of release as the most talked about movie in America. Why? It not only edged out Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny but also received an A+ CinemaScore, an 85% critics score, and a 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Eduardo Verastegui (Bella), and Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite), Sound of Freedom tells the courageous true story of former government agent Tim Ballard turned freedom fighter who takes on a dangerous mission to rescue dozens of children from human trafficking.
I recently had the chance to sit down with the director of Sound of Freedom, Alejandro Monteverde to discuss why having the film’s release delayed for several years was actually a blessing, the powerful significance of lighting in every scene, and why he hopes just talking about this movie can serve as a first step to reducing human trafficking around the world.
From your perspective, if you were trying to encourage a friend or a family member to get out to the theater to see Sound of Freedom, what would you say to them? What would your sales pitch be to get him to the movie?
I made this movie to create awareness on a very dark subject matter. So, I would just ask people to go see a film that by watching it is to shine a light on this darkness because awareness creates change. How can you change something if you're not aware of it? This is one of the darkest subject matters that we have today. So, just by participating and watching a film about this, you are already being part of a solution because you're creating awareness about it.
In your role as the director of the film, there always seems to come a point or a trigger point, where you say to yourself, I've got to make this movie. No questions asked. I've got to do this. What was that moment for you?
A moment happened for me at 11 pm at night. I was watching a news report on child trafficking and it shook my soul so hard. At that moment, I knew there's two kinds of movies in my life: the ones that I want to make and the ones that I'm called to make. Right there, I had a calling and there was no way I could look the other way. So, the next day I started writing a fiction story. To make a long story short, then I was introduced to Tim Ballard and I realized that his true story was more powerful than fiction.
You have mentioned to me previously that this movie has really been eight years in the making to the point where this is coming out now. Why is right now the right time for this movie to be released to the general public?
I believe I try to live my life in surrender mode, and I was very frustrated why the movie was not coming out before. But right now is the perfect time because people are open and there's an awareness that needed to happen before they were exposed to this film. So, it's perfect timing. If it would've come out before, I don't think the audience would've been ready for a film like this. Right now is just perfect timing.
Alejandro, you mentioned something recently that really caught my attention and it was something I thought about as I was watching Sound of Freedom. As I was screening the film I kept thinking the lighting from scene to scene was very interesting. It's dark, it's brighter, then it's lighter. It was almost like the lighting was an additional character in the movie. Why was it so important for this element in the film to stand out?
I understood that from the beginning because when I dove into the subject matter, I knew I was diving into the heart of darkness. And the more I got involved and learned about child trafficking, the darker it got. When we started writing the screenplay, I realized that in this darkness, the light has to always be present. It was sort of a narrator that had to be piercing the darkness because it's a battle. And the film is a journey about this battle between light and darkness. And in every frame we wanted to show the battle. I always say we're releasing with our eyes. And I wanted that to be the subtext of the film. It was a constant battle between light and darkness. It's a language that can reach people. For me, the subtext is the most powerful element in a movie. The subtext is what you feel and what you're mentioning. It was one of the goals that as a filmmaker I set out to do with my cinematographer. And it seems that it worked,
We use lighting as a way to create a cinematic adventure, a cinematic odyssey. So, to remind our audience that you are watching a movie so they can digest it. That also was very important. I did not want to go and make it very realistic. I wanted to stay more sure and more in the operatic sense. We never attempted to go near realism. We were trying to continuously remind people through lighting. We're watching a movie, but with profound meaning.
In preparing to do interviews for this movie, a word I keep uncovering over and over again was the word awareness. You have even mentioned it earlier in our conversation. It is quite clear that this film was designed to create and influence awareness. What does that look like in practical terms?
Well, for me, I can only speak from my own experience. I had no awareness on this subject matter. And when I became aware, the first thing I did was talk about it. I shared it with my wife, my friends, and then that started to create meaningful conversations about the subject of literally what can we do. And I realized that awareness creates change and the more we're aware the better. This is a movie, but the deeper goal is to create awareness. It’s very simple to curse and to complain about the darkness. We can do that all day long, but that doesn't create change. Lighting a little candle that creates light and talking about it is a way to light a candle. Making a movie about this subject matter and coming to support it and see it also creates that awareness that we're talking about.
I have heard it mentioned that there are many good people in this world who know about this darkness, but don't do anything about it. Why do you think that is?
Well, I definitely don't think it's intentional. In many ways it's a challenge. What can I do? They do want to do something about it but it's not a priority. In our societies, I feel like if we all come together, then we can all do something about it. And what is it? It will reveal itself when we start talking, when we start discussing, and diving deep into this theme because it's growing. I’ve got to tell you, when we started this movie they were like, ‘Oh, I don't want to hear about it today.’ Now I talk about it and they're very interested. Why? Because they're more aware of it. They're being exposed. It's in the news almost daily. Yeah. So, if we would've come out with this film when we wanted it to come out around three years ago, it would not have been the right timing. Yes, “Sound of Freedom'' is really dark but the movie also explores hope in this time of darkness. I’m so excited about what this film can do.
What's your greatest hope for the movie after people leave the movie theater? What's your greatest hope?
The greatest hope for me is that I believe a life not only for others, is a waste of life. When I was in film school, I saw a film that completely shook my soul. It was called “Schindler’s List”. What happened to me after I saw the film I was motivated and inspired to attempt or to try to create a difference through my work. You can create a difference by just talking about the subject matter. My focus is to get people talking about this issue. That's it.
Sound of Freedom is now playing in theaters nationwide.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR SOUND OF FREEDOM:
