‘horrific’ story about human trafficking is being filmed in North Dakota – InForum

BISMARCK – Ejaz Khan was filming a movie about horses in Linton, North Dakota, when he waltzed into a gas station for coffee.

Behind him – in the dead of winter – stood without shoes on a young woman who he later learned was a survivor of child sex trafficking. While she also battled her addiction, she was still tied to the industry as a sex worker.

That was over four years ago. The New Yorker was still finishing up

‘Before they disappear’

– released in 2022 – when he befriended the woman after buying her food.

When Khan heard the shoeless woman’s “horrific” life story, Khan shifted his focus from horses to victims and survivors of child sex trafficking.

“After that I was just devastated. I went back home, talked to my wife and said, ‘Here we’re making a movie about horses and donating the proceeds,'” he said. “But still, look at this human. Look what her relatives did to her.’”

This moment inspired “Trapped,” which follows the story of a young girl who is sex trafficked by her mother’s boyfriend.

Filmed

completely in subzero Linton,

Khan said the plot was inspired by the woman he met at the gas station.

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking.

According to the North Dakota

Guide to Human Trafficking,

the term is used to describe the process of recruiting, harboring, transporting, and/or soliciting a person to perform forced sexual acts for money. Victims and survivors can be of any age, but they are often people who were minors at the time of the crime.

Statewide data from North Dakota’s annual report

Human Trafficking Report

documents 102 sex trafficking victims and only two arrests in 2023.

According to the report, nearly one in four of the trafficked women identifies as American Indian or Alaska Native.

Khan told Forum News Service that the film does not specifically reference the disproportionate effects sex trafficking has on Native American communities, as the film follows the story of the woman he met in Linton, who he said did not identify as Native American.

However, the director said Native American women still inspire aspects of the film, as they made up a notable portion of the more than 80 survivors he spoke to during the production process.

A screening of the film will take place on Wednesday, November 13 at the Grand 22 Theater in Bismarck. Newly elected Lt. Michelle Strinden will attend as an audience member, along with Attorney General Drew Wrigley, who is currently listed as a “maybe.”

Audience members attend by invitation only, including people who belong to related organizations in addition to community leaders.

There will also be representatives from the 31:8 Project,

a source located in Bismarck

for survivors of human trafficking and sex trafficking. Khan worked with the organization during the filming of the movie.

“Trapped” will be officially released on January 31, 2025, during Human Trafficking Prevention Month. It will be available on Amazon, Google Play and iTunes.

Although the film has not yet been rated, Khan said the crew worked “really hard” to lower the rating to PG so that all audiences can learn from the subject matter.

“As a director I say it’s going to be very uncomfortable. But imagine what an hour and a half can do. Put yourself through that hour and a half and forty minutes of discomfort to help your own children. That’s all I’m asking for,” Khan said.

“Don’t sweep it under the rug,” he said. “We have to face it. Period.”