Director: Ric Esther Bienstock Cinematographer: Frank Vilaca, Ken Ng Editor: Steve Weslak
Producer: Ric Esther Bienstock, Felix Golubev, Simcha Jacobovici
Country: Canada, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Philippines, Turkey, U S A
Runtime: 01 hr : 22 min : 00 sec
Synopsis
TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE is a gritty and unflinching descent into the shadowy world of black-market organ trafficking: the street-level brokers, the rogue surgeons, the impoverished men and women who are willing to sacrifice a slice of their own bodies for a quick payday, and the desperate patients who face the agonizing choice of obeying the law or saving their lives.
From Manila to Istanbul, from Colorado to Kosovo, from Toronto to Tel Aviv, the film brings to the screen a compelling cast whom fate has brought together where the gift of life meets the shadow of death.
Nomination(s):
Ric Esther Bienstock
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Ric Esther Bienstock is an acclaimed Canadian filmmaker best known for her groundbreaking investigative documentaries. Her films have screened at over 30 international festivals and have aired on networks in over 50 countries. Her most recent feature length documentary, Tales From the Organ Trade, tackles the international black market trade in human organs. Narrated by David Cronenberg, the film was produced for HBO in the U.S. and Shaw Media and Canal D in Canada.
She has produced, written and directed a diverse range of acclaimed films including the Emmy Award-winning Sex Slaves (aka The Real Sex Traffic) in which Bienstock went under-cover to produce an expose into the trafficking of women from the former Soviet bloc into the global sex trade. Other films include the 3-part series Penn & Teller’s Magic and Mystery Tour, The Sexual Century: The Money Shot, Boxing: In and Out of the Ring, Ebola: Inside an Outbreak (aka The Plague Fighters) and Ms.Conceptions.
Her work has garnered numerous awards including a U.S. Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Dupont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, a British Broadcast Award for Best Documentary, a Royal Television Society Award, a nomination for a British Academy Award (BAFTA), two HOT DOCS Awards, two Gemini Awards, a Genie, a Cable Ace Award, two Gold Hugos from the Chicago Film Festival, a Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award from the IDA in Los Angeles, 3 Gold World Medals from the New York Festivals, the Grand Prix at the Nyon International Film Festival in Switzerland and two Overseas Press Club of America Awards for her investigative documentaries.
She speaks three languages, none of which her children listen to.
