In recognition of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Chatham Community Library will host a virtual film screening of Dreamcatcher (2015), beginning Thursday, January 13, and continuing through Thursday, January 20. 

“You got any dreams you wanna catch?” Sundance award winner Dreamcatcher takes viewers into a hidden world of prostitution and sexual trafficking through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute with a drug habit, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community and works to help women and young girls break the cycle of sexual abuse and exploitation. Dreamcatcher lays bare the hidden violence that devastates the lives of these young women, their families and the communities where they live in Chicago and Brenda’s unflinching intervention that turns these desperate lives around.

With unprecedented access, multi-award winning director, Kim Longinotto paints a vivid portrait of a community struggling to come to terms with some of its most painful truths and of the extraordinary woman who uses her past to inspire others to survive. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none in the four magic words she offers up to everyone she meets: “It’s not your fault.”

Film highlights and awards include:

• Sundance Film Festival, Directing Award, World Cinema Documentary
• Zagreb dox Croatia, "My Generation" Award
• San Francisco Film Festival, "Persistence of Vision" Award
• Nordic Docs, Icon Award
• DOC NYC, Robert & Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence
• DOC NYC Short List
• Social Impact Media Award, Best Director, Documentary Feature

Access to the virtual screening will be available beginning Thursday, January 13, by clicking HERE .  A password is required at the time of viewing. Please contact social.library@chathamlibraries.org to request the password or for additional information.

This program is free and open to the public.