Traffic is a web documentary project on the sexual exploitation of young girls, comprising three portraits based on confidential interviews between a director and three interlocutors: a former victim of sexual exploitation, a former pimp and a client; and three documentary capsules featuring the viewpoints of experts and field workers in these three realities.
Screenwriting
Catherine Proulx
Directors
Catherine Proulx & Arnaud Bouquet
Research
Karine Dubois, Sasha Campeau & Amélie Badier
Production
Karine Dubois
Genre
Documentary
Country
Canada
Original version
French
Format
HD
Ratio
16:9
Duration
6 X 5 min
Sound
Stereo
Year
2019
Trailer
Episodes
Episode 1
Pimp portrait
You have to learn to be a pimp. That's what Kevin tells us in this portrait. He learned his job from his cousin. With disturbing lucidity and frankness, he explains how he learned to find the flaw in his victims, in order to manipulate and exploit them. In the kingdom of money, there's no room for love. A confronting and rarely heard point of view.
Episode 2
Pimp, the documentary
How and why does one become a pimp? Youth center workers explain not only Kevin's story, but also how they are developing prevention tools for young men.
Episode 3
Chloé portrait
Chloe always had a lot to prove, until she lost control. For a long time, she refused to admit that even she, the strong girl, had been broken. In this portrait, she tells the story of how paying off a debt turned into an exploitative relationship, and how she went into survival mode when the American dream went by the wayside.
Episode 4
Chloé, the documentary
What are the physical and psychological consequences of prostitution for young girls? An insider's point of view from a researcher who conducted an extensive study on the subject and a worker who works with these young girls in youth centers every day.
Episode 5
Client portrait
Because there are customers, there is a market for juvenile prostitution. But when it comes to understanding what motivates them, customers remain inaccessible. Like ghosts. In place of a client's testimony, we record reconstructed but very real exchanges, recorded without their knowledge as they negotiate the services of an underage girl. A frontal and unfiltered contact.
Episode 6
Customer, the documentary
Who are the clients of juvenile prostitution, and is it possible to make them accountable or even rehabilitate them? One has conducted in-depth interviews in which clients revealed their true selves, while the other runs therapy groups for sex offenders.
Awards and festivals
2019
Webfest Berlin
2019
Finalist – Prix Gémeaux - Meilleure série documentaire pour les médias numériques
2020
Santa Monica Webfest
Impact campaign
Traffic: An ex-pimp’s regrets echo through the National Assembly
It’s summer 2018 and a youth center worker with whom director Catherine Proulx and I (producer Karine Dubois) stayed in touch after doing a project together tells us that, as part of a research project, they’ve started recording interviews with…
More information
Credits
Screenwriting
Catherine Proulx
Directors
Catherine Proulx & Arnaud Bouquet
Research
Karine Dubois, Sasha Campeau & Amélie Badier
Production
Karine Dubois
Cinematography
Maxime Pilon Lalande & Arnaud Bouquet
Framing
Alexandre Fréchette
Sound engineering
Jonathan Dubuc
Editing
Martin Gagnon, Amélie Labrèche & Annie Leclair
Sound design
Thierry Gauthier
Music
Sophie Lupien
Graphic design
Nathalie Dubé
Production management
Valérie Mantha
Traffic: the series was produced with the support of
