A poignant & unapologetic film
​on global sex trafficking

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Galindo
26secondsdoc@gmail.com

ONE CHILD EVERY 26 SECONDS IS TRAFFICKED GLOBALLY

Kelly Galindo, award-winning director, writer, and producer of 26 Seconds, has won the prestigious Award of Merit Best Shorts Competition for Women Filmmakers; The Award of Merit for Liberation-Social Justice-&-Protest; Award of Merit for Women Filmmakers for the Accolade Global Film Competition; Outstanding Excellence of Social Issues for Docs Without Borders Film Festival; Award of Merit for Best Documentary Short for Women Filmmakers for the IndieFEST Film Awards; Best Short Cause-for-Change for AIFA Fest; Best Director for the International Independent Film Awards; Special Mention for Impact Doc Awards; and Special Mention for Global Shorts, One-Reeler Short Film Festival Competition and winner of Excellence for WRPN Women’s International Film Festival. The 26 Seconds documentary short has also been officially selected for That Film Festival – Cannes, Dances with Films Festival, See It-End It Film and Arts Festival and Film-Com Packaging Financing & Distribution Market. Galindo’s vision is to spread awareness and create a call to action by educating audiences and giving a voice to those who have been silenced. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing illegal industry in the world. There are more slaves today than any time in history.
 
Best Shorts Competition, the Accolade Global Film Competition, The Impact Doc Awards, IndieFEST Film Awards, and Docs Without Borders Film Festival recognize film, television, and new media professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Entries are judged by highly qualified professionals in the film and television industry. In winning these film festivals, 26 Seconds joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of these internationally respected awards. Entries are received from around the world, from powerhouse companies to remarkable new talent, all of whom demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity. Those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change help set the standard as power catalysts for global change.

Best Shorts Competition Award winners have included Disney Interactive for “Vinylmation: A Love Story” and Oscar-winning production “Mr. Hublot” from Laurent Witz from Luxembourg.

Accolade Global Film Competition winners have included the Oscar-winning production of "The Lady in Number Six" by Malcolm Clarke, the very talented Dave Bossert of Disney for his short documentary "The Tunes Behind the Toons," Hollywood industry veteran Ron Howard for "When You Find Me," and High Wire Films Australia for their popular ABC TV series Twenty- Something.

The Impact Doc Award winners include many accomplished directors, such as Oscar-winner Louie Psihoyos for his 2016 Best of Show Racing Extinction, Oscar-winner Yael Melamede for (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies, and Emmy-winner Gerald Rafshoon for "Endless Corridor," narrated by Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons.

The IndieFEST Film Award winners have included Love Thy Nature, narrated by internationally respected Liam Neeson; the documentary A Path Appears, which features George Clooney and Blake Lively; Radical Grace, executive produced by Susan Sarandon; the searing exposé Davids and Goliath by Peabody-winner Leon Lee; and Touched with Fire starring Katie Holmes. 

26 Seconds is a two-stage film project that reveals the pandemic of child sex trafficking. The first stage is a two-hour feature documentary that is currently in post-production. The second stage is a dramatic doc-series. Through a captivating journey across the world, Galindo reveals the ubiquity of the problem and the gravity of the damage sustained by this evil, destructive trade. In intimate interviews, the audience gets a raw, often shocking glimpse into the lives of children and women in various cultures and regions. The interviews include vivid details of how each victim was captured or lured into the sex trade, the horrors of their captivity, and the commitment of each individual, nonprofit organization, crisis intervention team, and law enforcement team in the fight to eradicate global sex trafficking. The film project exposes the underage sex slave industry from the United States to Asia and Africa.  The 26 Seconds team is currently editing the feature documentary with three-time Emmy award-winner,Mark Wilcken as lead editor. The production will make a strong push for top-tier film festivals and create a robust PR campaign for the Academy Awards. Sid Ganis, the supervising producer for 26 Seconds, was the past president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, and Sciences; he also served as chairman of the Academy’s International Outreach Committee until 2017. Ganis also worked on the board of directors at Marvel Entertainment until its sale to Disney. Ganis's film career in marketing and publicity includes working at 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Paramount Pictures. 

“Film is my commitment to creating work that matters in our world,”  Galindo said. “I wanted to film a documentary on global sex trafficking because it is a fast-growing and horrific industry that tragically affects every child and woman worldwide. We can either do something or nothing. I simply chose to do something with the resources and creative talent I possess and have access to as a professor in film. As a filmmaker, my intention was to tell the story. It was not possible to tell the story of human trafficking unless I visited the countries and met the victims trapped in the sex trade face-to-face – the pimps and madams who sell them, and the johns who buy them – but the true heroes are the nonprofit organizations that rescue, restore, and reintegrate these innocent children. Creating awareness is not enough; a call to action is ALL of our responsibility. It will not only take an army of heroes but also a village of ordinary people like you and me.”

For more information, you can visit 26secondsdoc.com & IMDB.
You can also follow 26 Seconds Doc on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook.
26 Seconds is proud to be featured in the L.A. Times, Epoch Times, & Newsroom. 
​26 Seconds short is currently available on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, DiscoverFilms & ​DocsNow+   
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