Sound of Freedom is based on the true story of Tim Ballard, the man who decided on his own to carry out an operation to save a young brother and his sister from human trafficking in Colombia.
Ballard is a former agent of the US Department of Homeland Security and says in a Zoom interview from the US that he did not expect the overwhelming response to this movie.
Sound of Freedommade by independent filmmaker Alejandro Gómez Monteverde, was close on the heels of the massive box office hit in its opening weekend in South Africa Barbie.
Sound of Freedom has already had remarkable success in theaters in the US and Europe. In the weekend of July 16 Sound of Freedom dust in too Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny kicked his eyes at the international box office.
According to Ballard, the feedback is overwhelming precisely because the movie sat on the shelf for almost five years before it was finally produced by Angel Studios.
“The movie was repeatedly rejected by the production houses and studios that the filmmakers approached. I always thought there must be another problem, because I was too close to the story and think it is told in a very compelling way.”
He says it excites him that there is finally a global conversation about child trafficking since the movie was released.
“I can’t believe people are finally talking about this topic. I have been fighting child trafficking for two decades and the biggest challenge I have is people who refuse to see how big the problem is are unwilling to discuss the subject.
“The fact that people are talking about it will lead to more interventions and rescue efforts.”
Jim Caviezel, who played the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ starred, plays the role of Tim Ballard in the movie.
The actors Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp, Eduardo Verástegui, Javier Godino, José Zúñiga, Kurt Fuller and Gary Basaraba can also be seen in the film.
“Jim is one of my favorite actors and was my first choice when the producers approached me about the movie. Jim has a way of captivating an audience that is hard to describe. He tells the story with his face rather than with words.”
He adds that he would never have dreamed that there would be a film about the work he is doing.
“There was a lot of interest in my story, but I was picky about who would take on the movie. I don’t trust Hollywood. I believe Hollywood produces the type of content that leads me to do this job.”
According to Ballard, the director wanted to make a film that starts when you leave the cinema. “A movie that still makes you think and ruminate about it in the days after you’ve watched it.”
He confesses that he no longer watches the film himself. “The first time I saw the full movie, it triggered a lot of post-traumatic stress in me. I cried terribly and was drenched in sweat. Afterwards I had to stand up and talk to potential investors, a big studio like Disney, and I couldn’t get a word out.
“It was extremely important to me that the scenes would not be explicit or daring in any way, but the movie still punches you in the gut.”
- Read more about it here Sound of Freedom.
- Also listen here to Leon van Nierop’s review of Sound of Freedom.
