Discover Walla Walla

Tonight, we are headed to the movies. But don't bring your popcorn and soda, for this movie holds no entertainment, although it is a star studded evening in Walla Walla. We are viewing "Cargo: Lost Innocence" - a gritty documentary on human trafficking, directed and produced by actor Michael Cory Davis. The movie presentation and the subsequent panel discussion on human bondage is backed by "Artists for Human Rights" an organization created by Hollywood film artist, Anne Archer.

Archer, Davis along with human rights activist Donna Isham and Executive Director of "Artists for Human Rights," Michael Wisner are all in attendance. When asked why they would bring such a film to Walla Walla, a relatively isolated rural community, Davis, Archer and Wisner all respond with the same answer: the fight for human rights starts in your local communities.

"Cargo" chronicles the story of two young women who were abducted from their homes, one from Bulgaria the other South America, and brought to the U.S. to be sex slaves in Texas. Davis does a nice job of interspersing sound bites from government officials, who are trying to fight the problem, with gut wrenching interviews with the victims and re-enacted scenes of some of the horrific stories they describe.

 

During interviews with the press and the panel discussion, Davis, Wisner and Isham are adamant that slave labor is just as prominent as sex slavery, despite the fact "Cargo" focuses only on the latter. They suggest that in Walla Walla, where there is a large migrant community, the probability of slave labor exists.

Cordiner Hall, located on the Campus of Whitman College, was almost at its capacity of 1,500 - not a bad turnout for a somber, educational film on a Saturday night. But events featuring compelling current topics are not foreign to the Walla Walla community. Whitman acts as a hub for such speakers as Congressman, Joe Kennedy, NPR host Diane Reams, and author Salman Rushdie, just to name a few.

To learn about upcoming enrichment events, check the Tourism Walla Walla website's Calendar of Events menu. You never know what luminary will be appearing just around the corner, giving insight into another current topic.