Voz de los silenciados, La

This silent film that tells the story of modern-day slavery using non-actors, a brutal subway landscape, and the isolation of deafness. And a magic penguin. Based on real events, the film follows Olga, a hearing impaired teenager from Central America lured to New York City by the false promise of attending a Christian sign language school. Instead, she's now a slave to a criminal syndicate. Forced to sell "I am deaf" trinkets on the subway, Olga is trapped inside an unending nightmare. Working from dawn to dusk, she and her fellow 'students' must raise a minimum of $100 a day or face physical abuse and torture. This routine transforms an innocent girl into a street-wise young woman, reliant on wit and creativity to earn her quota. Will Olga ever escape this drudgery? And what does a penguin have to do with all of this? (Zlín Film Festival)