Anonymously Yours (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gayle Ferraro

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

"Anonymously Yours" is the outcome of a daring filmmaking operation on sex-trafficking in a military state where nothing is as it seems...

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Color

Ambitious, courageous, but not a great film

As a humanitarian exercise, it's hard to imagine a more ambitious and courageous venture than a behind-the-scenes documentary on the women victimized in the Southeast Asian sex trade. It's impossible not to be impressed director's courage in filming women in the repressive state of Burma, and smuggling the film out to be edited and shown to Western audiences. She depicts four young women in detail, allowing them to tell their stories - including rape, violence, abortion and abduction - in their own words, with minimal interruption. The women are in turn calm, animated, spirited, and heartbreakingly, visibly wounded by the abuses they've experienced. One, nicknamed ZuZu, appeared scarcely a teenager but recounter a lifetime of despair, confusion and pain with the mien of an old woman.

The film is an important and impressive one, but had some serious flaws. It's too long for a talking-heads format, and the digital footage - shot surreptitiously under many circumstances - is variable in quality. Because the film jumps back and forth between woman to woman, it's hard to keep the individual stories straight, and a bit more context (on the government, economy, etc.) would have been appreciated.

Still, this is a worthy contribution to the generally woeful state of Western knowledge on the abuses present in the international trade in women.