U. Roberto Romano

The Dark Side of Chocolate

Miki Mistrati, U. Roberto Romano

A team of journalists investigate how human trafficking and child labor in the Ivory Coast fuels the worldwide chocolate industry. The crew interview both proponents and opponents of these alleged practices, and use hidden camera techniques to delve into the gritty world of cocoa plantations.

Stolen Childhoods

U. Roberto Romano, Len Morris

Tom Harkin, Meryl Streep

Narrated by Meryl Streep and filmed in eight countries, Stolen Childhoods is the story of 246 million children for whom life is nothing but work. Children are found working in dumps, quarries and brick kilns. One boy has been pressed into forced labor on a fishing platform in the Sea of Sumatra, a fifteen-year-old runaway describes being forced into prostitution on the streets of Mexico City, while a nine-year-old girl picks coffee in Kenya to help her family survive. The film features stories of child laborers around the world, told in their own words, while placing their stories in the broader context of the worldwide struggle against child labor, how it contributes to global insecurity, while featuring best practice programs to improve their lives by giving them the chance of making a reasonable living when they grow up. Ultimately, the film challenges the viewer to help break the cycle of poverty for the 246 million children laboring at the bottom of the global economy.

The Harvest (La Cosecha)

U. Roberto Romano

The story of the children who work 12-14 hour days in the fields without the protection of child labor laws. These children are not toiling in the fields in some far away land. They are working in America.