“God’s Children Are Not for Sale”: Interview with the Director of Sound of Freedom
Discover our interview with Alejandro Monterverde, director of the film Sound of Freedom which will be released tomorrow in more than 200 cinemas.
“A thriller loosely inspired by the incredible true story of a former American federal agent who embarks on a rescue operation, risking his life, to free hundreds of children imprisoned by sex traffickers.” Here is the pitch of this film which shook up the American box office with more than $180 million in revenue. It is currently number 10 in the United States, surpassing the last Indiana Jones or even films like Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I, Transformers...
Sound of Freedom has been the subject of media attention since the announcement of its release in France. Across the Atlantic, the film has indeed aroused heated controversy following the success it enjoyed in conspiracy circles. His detractors particularly criticize the main actor Jim Caviezel, famous for having played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, of being close to the QAnon movement.
"I'm just an artist who was called to make a film on this subject"
We met the director, Alejandro Monteverde, when he was in the capital last week for the premiere. The director insists, he is “only a filmmaker”, neither an expert nor a politician. “I’m just an artist who was asked to make a film about this subject,” he told us.
He has also defended Sound of Freedom in several publications American, following the controversies it aroused, insisting that the film "is not the least bit political". Alejandro Monteverde affirms, his goal is to raise public awareness of this issue.
During our discussion, he told us how he had been shocked by the figures on child trafficking, which pushed him to become interested in this subject. It was during his research, while he was writing an entirely fictional screenplay, that he discovered Tim Ballard and decided to change direction to tell his story. The two men worked hand in hand to write the screenplay freely inspired by true events.
He spoke to us about the workings behind the creation of this feature film, in particular we discovered that several characters were very real. This is the case of the famous Vampiro, former cartel leader, cigar smoker, who will lend a hand to the hero to save children from trafficking.
“God’s children are not for sale”. We also learned that this quote from the film, already a cult line, was uttered by the real Tim Ballard when the filmmaker asked him why he chose to leave his job at Homeland Security to save child victims of trafficking.
In the United States, Sound of Freedom is produced by Angel Studios, the studio that produces The Chosen, the famous event series about the life of Jesus. In France, Saje Distribution holds the rights. The film is expected tomorrow, Wednesday November 15, in more than 200 theaters.
For those interested in the subject, the distribution company offers an educational file to discover by clicking here, to address the themes present in the film.
Camille Westphal Perrier
