SCENE FROM MUDAN

In an effort to help expose and combat human trafficking at home and abroad, Florida State University's School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School -- will present a special screening of its critically acclaimed short film "Fields of Mudan" on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles.

Actress and activist Daryl Hannah will host next Monday's event, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the Directors Guild Theatres on Sunset Boulevard.

In a harrowing fictional account based on all-too-real conditions, the 2006 Academy Awards qualifier written and directed by an FSU film student tells the story of Mudan, a young Chinese girl forced into an Asian underworld of child prostitution and modern-day slavery by a brutal brothel owner. The child's only hope is her dream of a new life in America with her mother.

Following the screening, a panel discussion will feature Hannah and a range of experts in the field, including Samer Rabadi, deputy director for the Western Region Amnesty International USA; Kay Buck, executive director of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST); Los Angeles Police Dept. Captain Kyle Jackson; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Wittcoff, who prosecutes trafficking cases in Los Angeles. Also on hand will be "Fields" writer-director Stevo -- that's FSU alumnus Stevo Chang -- and Terry Coonan, executive director of the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. Film School Dean Frank Patterson will serve as moderator.

"Cinema is at its best when it helps us come to terms with our own world," Patterson said. "In this case, it is linking Daryl Hannah's efforts to create much needed awareness about the horrible truth of human trafficking with the work of policymakers, prosecutors and service organizations that fight the battle on the front line."

"Fields of Mudan" has raised awareness worldwide while making the rounds of select festivals and winning myriad awards -- including the 2005 Florida Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Short Films that qualified it for Academy Award consideration in the same category. Hannah became involved last September after viewing "Fields" for the first time at the Los Angeles International Shorts Film Festival, where it garnered the Amnesty International Award. Produced in conjunction with Coonan and the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, it premiered at The Film School in 2004 as Stevo's graduate thesis film.

As a world-renowned expert in human trafficking, Coonan was instrumental not only in the development of the highly sensitive project but also to the film's use as a training tool with the FBI and the U.S. Dept. of Justice, among other law enforcement and advocacy groups.

" 'Fields of Mudan' tells a compelling human rights story and serves as a powerful reminder that human slavery still thrives in America in the 21st century," Coonan said. "Human trafficking exploits not only the bodies of young girls and women but their dreams and hopes as well. It is a tribute to the film that it's being used nationwide to help service providers and law enforcement officials better meet the needs of those victimized by the modern slave trade."

"We can't ask for much more from a graduate student's thesis film," Patterson said.

It's a happy ending for a film project initially beset with controversy.

When word spread that an FSU graduate student was making a movie about Chinese child prostitution, Florida's Chinese community protested and its actors shied away. The Film School's student crew managed to fill most key roles during their casting search that stretched to Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles; but it was nearly shooting time when, back at home, Tallahassee natives Nicole Nishimoto (as Mudan) and Shannon Lu (as her friend Faye) were tapped to play the two child leads.

"Despite the controversy, I'm thrilled to see our film so well received by respected filmmakers, non-profit organizations, law enforcement agencies and everyday moviegoers," Stevo said. "It's my hope that filmmakers will continue the struggle to raise awareness about human trafficking and child sex slavery, no matter how difficult the path to awareness may be."

Recognized by the Directors Guild of America for its distinguished contributions to American culture, the FSU School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts encompasses one of the largest and best equipped facilities devoted wholly to film education, while its undergraduate and graduate programs rank among the most highly regarded in the world.