For musician and first-time director, Justin Dillon, what began as a way to personally process his shocking realization of the scope of modern-day slavery quickly turned into a sort of open-mic concert venue for other musicians to join him in responding and bringing awareness to this horrific issue. This led Dillon into a documentary study on music, which finally became the first feature rockumentary film, Call + Response: Exposing the world's 27 million most terrifying secrets.
There are more slaves today than ever before in human history. There are 1 million people trafficked in the United States every year. Trafficking humans is the third most profitable business in the world.
If we are at the beginning of the 21st century abolitionist movement, then the film Call + Response is our rally song. The well-known voices of many prominent activists and politicians such as Nicholas Kristof, Ashley Judd, and Madeleine Albright, interwoven between stirring musical performances by Imogen Heap, Natasha Bedingfield, Matisyahu, Rocco Deluca, and others, combine to make a unique film addressing the reality of human trafficking and a call for each of us to respond. (Needless to say, the film also has a killer soundtrack!)
What makes this film especially noteworthy, however, is it's study of music, especially through the intellect of philosopher Dr. Cornell West. Dr. West details the history of music back through the spirituals of African-American slaves to Blues, Jazz, and Funk music today. Again and again music has proven to be the great truth teller of every generation. Music is how, Dr. West says, "you convince a folk who are prone to paralysis to keep on moving."
In this film Dillon, and the countless others who share their voices, call and sing out to us to join them in an open source movement to end modern-day slavery. They ask us, as viewers, to push ourselves beyond what seems acceptable, to tap into our gifts, passions, and abilities, to do our part in bringing awareness and an end to human trafficking.
As we each write our own code on top of this movement, as we tell our own stories to uniquely respond to this issue, we will be creating music, both in spirit and purpose. We must come together to be the response to the call, the release to the tension, and the resolve to the dissonance. And that, Dr. West tells us, is what the music is all about.
Call + Response will unlock your mind and open your eyes to a well-hidden ugliness in our world with the hope that Dr. West's philosophy will prevail: "When free your mind then your ass will follow."
Find out more about the project, Call + Response, and ways you can respond here.
Watch the trailer for the film here.
