A series of four films focusing on human trafficking issues will be presented at Coastal Carolina University during the 2009 fall semester. The movies will be shown in Williams-Brice Recreation Center, room 116. Doors will open and refreshments will be served at 5 p.m.; film screening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a discussion immediately following. The screenings are free and open the public.

Monday, Sept. 14 - "Human Trafficking"

When a single mother from Russia, an orphaned 17-year-old girl from Romania, a 16-year-old girl from the Ukraine, and a 12-year-old American tourist become victims of international sex slave traffickers, a specialized team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) struggles to expose the worldwide network that has enslaved them. The discussion will be led by Ashley Logan, Eastern Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking (ECCAHT) marketing committee chair.

Monday, Oct. 5 - "Blood Diamond"

Fisherman Solomon Vandy's village in Sierra Leone is invaded by rebels in 1999. He is kidnapped and forced to work in the diamond mines, where he finds and hides a valuable pink diamond. A mercenary smuggler, Danny Archer from Zimbabwe, learns about the discovery and helps to free Vandy, proposing to exchange the diamond for Vandy's missing family.

The discussion will be led by Deborah Walker, assistant professor of communication and education committee chair at Coastal Carolina Uiversity.

Monday, Oct. 26 - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is only one question away from 20 million rupees when the show breaks, and he is arrested under suspicion of cheating. While being interrogated, Malik tells the story of his life in the slum and his abduction into child slavery where he and his brother grew up, and the events from his history explain why he knows the answers. Winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Picture.

The discussion will be led by Philip Whalen, associate professor of history and director of Honors Program at Coastal Carolina University and author of the article "Girls as Domestic Slaves in Contemporary France" in the book "Children in Slavery: A Global History," 2008.

Monday, Nov. 16 - "Taken"

Bryan Mills, a retired secret service agent, gives his 18-year-old daughter, Kim, permission to travel to Paris with a friend. Shorty after arriving, the girls are kidnapped. Mills travels to Paris to find Kim and learns that the kidnappers are Albanian sex traffickers and that he has only 96 hours to recover his daughter before she will "disappear forever."

The discussion will be led by Betty Houbion, president of Rezolve Consultants and ECCAHT vice president.

The series is sponsored by Coastal Carolina University's Department of Communications, the University's Women and Gender Studies Program and ECCAHT. For more information, call Julinna Oxley, director of the program, at 843-349-6548.