Tales from the Organ Trade, writer-director Ric Esther Bienstock’s documentary about the world of black market organ trafficking, has won a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award.
Here is what the OPC had to say about the film:
"In the finest tradition of Edward R. Murrow, this documentary challenges everything you thought you knew about the illegal trade in kidneys and the international campaign to stop it. Through interviews with donors, recipients, go-betweens, doctors and prosecutors from North America to Israel and Eastern Europe to the Philippines, the filmmakers provide a rare look at how an illegally acquired kidney reaches a sick person and how both desperation and good will drive the trade."
The film, from Associated Producers for Global Television, Canal D and HBO in the U.S., is to receive the honor from the Overseas Press Club of America tonight (April 24) in New York City.
The Edward R. Murrow Award for best documentary about international affairs is Bienstock’s second, after an earlier film about human trafficking, Sex Slaves, won the same prestigious prize in 2007.
“It’s an incredible feeling to have your work recognized by the best of the best in American journalism,” Beinstock told realscreen‘s sister publication Playback Daily.
She added that Tales from the Organ Trade succeeded in dispelling myths about a shadowy global black market trade in human body parts to tell the real story.
“What I discovered while making this film was a morally complex world that forced me to question my own ethical assumptions. And I’m so proud that this effort is being recognized with the Edward R. Murrow Award,” Bienstock said.
Tales From The Organ Trade has screened at over 40 film festivals around the world, and earned six festival awards, including the Amnesty International Award from the Human Rights Film Festival of San Sebastian Spain and a nomination for a Realscreen Award.
The Canadian documentary aired on HBO in November 2013, and in Quebec on Canal D.
Global Television is set to air Tales from the Organ Trade in English Canada. The film was produced by Bienstock, Felix Golubev and Simcha Jacobovici.
Source: http://realscreen.com/2014/04/24/ric-esther-bienstock-doc-wins-edward-r-murrow-award/