The Veiled

This film is a must watch! You are confronted about the reality of human trafficking, and stirred to do something about this injustice. You can't help but want to take action in the fight for freedom! Thank you for shedding light around the millions who are enslaved, and reminding us that we can use what is in our hand to make a difference!

You and your team are incredible!

Veiled follows one woman's investigation of a dark and hidden global industry, sex slavery between the developing and developed world.

It bravely looks at the dangers faced by volunteers who investigate the underground trade and raid buildings to free women who are held captive.

Veiled fill the screen with talent, and it is evident that a creative passionate team has dedicated their storytelling skills to this project.

As a social issues project it is a perfect advocacy tool, but it is more than that for general audiences. The characters are fully formed, the story is compelling, and the writing, direction and production is spot on. It wouldn't be out of place as a commercial TV special drama.

Haunting, eerie, yet thoughtful and composed with consummate care, THE VEILED follows Cassandra, an Australian fashion photographer used to shooting models by the breezy, open seaside as she ventures into the world of women shut away from the daylight. Visiting family overseas is also a chance to search for clues to the disappearance of her sister years ago, and investigate the dark underworld of local sex- trafficking.

Having made a financial success of herself, transforming a mere hobby into paid work, Cassandra now seeks to put her snapshot skills to more urgent purpose, using her camera to turn her lens back onto predatory men, as well as to snatch important images of their victims. Photographs are of great symbolic importance in the film as (among other things) a currency of proof: verbal tales seem to count for little, and the women Cassandra is trying to help cannot speak English.

Although short, the film is populated by authentic and often sinister performances, and shots are composed with high attention to detail and atmosphere, yet never cluttered or overdone. Overall, THE VEILED is a striking and powerful film about guilt, memory, and responsibility-- all structured around a terrible and urgent social problem. Take any opportunity to see it.

A brilliant insight into a very difficult subject matter. This is a film that needed to be made and has been done so with beautiful judgement, fine performances and skillful story-telling. The overall tone of the film is both deeply involving and harrowing, and reminds us of why we watch films. Sometimes, yes, it's for escapism, but other times, it's because certain stories need to be heard.

The Veiled wasted no time getting under my skin. It's a small miracle of a film that seduces with it's captivating imagery while pulling the viewer down a dark rabbit hole that feels like a nightmare made terrifyingly real. A nightmare so many are living every day.

With a lean, elegant visual style, exquisitely composed shots and taut storytelling, we are given an unflinching look at a secret world hidden in plain sight. The rapidly escalating tension kept me squarely on the edge of my seat. The Veiled has been in my head ever since seeing it, evoking memories of haunted faces that have passed fleetingly through my life and left me wondering, what did I see, but not see? A truly remarkable piece of filmmaking.