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4	The Raconteur José Rivera made a name for himself on the Great White Way, but when Hollywood called, he answered with The Motorcycle Diaries and now with his gritty drama, Trade. read more...
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Movie

the Raconteur
After establishing himself as a playwright, Oscar-nominated writer of
The Motorcycle Diaries Jose Rivera shifts into gear for his second movie and brings the terrifying world of sex trafficking to the silver screen.

By Daniel Eilemberg

Puerto Rican-born playwright Jose Rivera chose an unlikely career. The son of a working class family, Rivera grew up in a house where the only book readily available was the Bible. The glitz of the Broadway marquees seemed a world apart. Yet, at age 12, Rivera discovered theater during a school field trip and immediately fell in love. His parents may have disapproved of his choice back then, but now, he says, they think differently of his career. “The first time my parents really understood what I was doing was back in 1986,” Rivera says. “A play of mine was done on PBS and [the network] took a full-page ad in the TV Guide. When my parents saw my name on the TV Guide they really got it.”
Rivera has come a long way since, applying himself to the craft, and finding success not only in New York’s competitive theater scene but also in Hollywood, where he currently resides with his wife and two children, and where his Oscar-nominated adaptation of The Motorcycle Diaries has made him one of the most sought-after screenwriters.
His latest venture, Trade, which opens in select theaters September 21, is a heartbreaking account of a young man’s journey to save his sister from sex traffickers. In a fictionalized account of an all-too-real problem, Adriana (Paula Gaitan) is kidnapped in Mexico by an international network of sex traffickers, brought to the United States and forced into prostitution. Dodging immigration officials and the perils of the trip, her brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) follows her across the border and, with the help of Ray (Kevin Kline), an American cop, he attempts to rescue her.
The idea came from an article by reporter Peter Landesman, who spent five months in Mexico City researching sex slavery for The New York Times. The story, “The Girls Next Door,” was published in January 2004 in the Times Sunday magazine. It shone light on the organized network of sex traffickers operating along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Europe.The problem, which many thought was limited to developing countries like Thailand and Brazil with a long tradition of sex tourism, has been silently developing in the U.S., reaching disturbing levels.
While Rivera knew about the human traffic epidemic, reading Landesman’s account gave him a new perspective on the subject. “It was a very detailed and well-researched exposé of the problem. That was really the start of my greater awareness of what was going on. Little did I know at the time that I would end up writing a movie based on that article.”
Rivera was approached by the film’s producers to write the screenplay and quickly immersed himself in the research. He traveled to Mexico and was able to talk to girls on the streets, as well as interview former victims, most of whom still bear the psychological scars. Asked about what he found, Rivera recounts the story of a 12-year-old girl who had been a sex slave since she was 9 and another who was sold to sex traders by her uncle. “A lot of these boys and girls are controlled through violence, intimidation, drugs,” Rivera says. “The amount of violence and abuse they endure is unbelievable. And I am sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
But like the drug trade, fighting this growing epidemic represents a Herculean task for law enforcement. To begin with, they are better prepared to fight prostitution, which has a longer history in this country. “As terrible as prostitution is, sex slavery is a lot worse because it’s coerced,” Rivera says. “These women have no choice, they are kept like caged animals.” And unlike prostitutes, who often walk the streets, sex slaves are kept in secret establishments and spend the majority of the time in confinement or under supervision, making the practice far less visible.
Another issue is the role immigration plays. “For the most part these are undocumented women from other parts of the world, so in that way the issues of immigration and sex slavery are absolutely connected,” says Rivera as he recounts a lunch meeting with a former victim. The woman was being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border. Near the crossing she started screaming. Immigration officials opened the van and found her, but instead of treating her as a victim she was treated as a criminal. She was accused of trying to cross the border illegally and arrested for eight months. “In a lot of cases the idea of protecting the border trumps the need of these women to be protected,” Rivera says.
For now, however, a good offense is raising awareness about the problem, which is no longer confined to the border and shantytowns, but persists in the suburbs and cities across the country.
“The idea that a film could raise awareness about a fairly invisible problem that victimizes thousands of people every year is an exciting prospect for me ... People need to be vigilant,” he says. “Sometimes just a little awareness of what is happening around them could lead to someone’s life being saved.”

Past Plays
The House of Ramon Iglesia (1983)
The Promise (1988)
Each Day Dies With Sleep (1990)
Marisol (1992)
Giants Have Us In Their Books
Cloud Tectonics (1995)
Maricela De La Luz Lights The World
Godstuff
Adoration of the Old Woman
The Street of the Sun (1996)
Sueno (1998)
References To Salvidor Dali Make Me Hot (2000)
Sonnets for an Old Century (2000)
Massacre (Sing To Your Children