On May 5, 2014, Norma Bastidas, a fearless survivor of human trafficking, sexual violence, abuse and addiction, shattered the Guinness World Record for longest triathlon—running, biking and swimming 3,762 miles (6,054 km) from Cancún, Mexico to Washington D.C. as her stand against human trafficking.
While she trained, we planned and filmed her journey to pave the way for her success. Be Relentless is the documentary film that captured every grueling step of Norma’s record-breaking expedition across two countries.
We're almost finished editing the film, and now we need your help to complete this extraordinary project!
THE JOURNEY
On May 5, 2014, Norma Bastidas, a fearless survivor of human trafficking, sexual violence, abuse and addiction, shattered the Guinness World Record for longest triathlon—running, biking and swimming 3,762 miles (6,054 km) from Cancún, Mexico to Washington D.C. as her stand against human trafficking.
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This incredible journey was made to empower survivors everywhere, proving that one’s past doesn’t have to dictate one’s future. And educate the world about sexual violence and human trafficking, and inspire action to end this modern-day incarnation of slavery.
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“Ultras are tough, both physically and emotionally, but the challenge is only temporary. After I finish an ultra, my life goes back to normal, but survivors have to keep overcoming huge challenges every day of their lives.”
—Norma Bastidas
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EXPLOITATION
There are more slaves today than ever before in history. Exploitation occurs when a person or group of people take advantage of another person’s vulnerability in order to obtain personal gain. Human trafficking—one of the most severe forms of exploitation—is modern day slavery. Exploitation is a multifaceted issue that affects all levels of society worldwide. Vulnerable children are specially targeted.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
- 1 in 5 of the 11,800 runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2015 were likely sex trafficking victims. That’s up from 1 in 6 in 2014.
- 74% of these likely sex trafficking victims were in the care of social services or foster care when they went missing.
According to the Polaris Project:
- The National Hotline Trafficking Resource Center received more than 5,900 contacts that were identified as potential cases of human trafficking in 2015.
- 75% of those potential cases were regarding sex trafficking.
- Human trafficking occurred in all 50 states in 2015.
- More than 1600 survivors reached out for help in 2015.
- Since 2007, 25,696 high potential cases of trafficking have been reported to Polaris, and 30% of them involved minors.
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Mexican authorities recover four teens being trafficked on the southern border of Mexico.
THE FILM
Be Relentless is the documentary film that captured every grueling step of Norma’s record-breaking expedition across two countries. In addition to Norma’s story of triumph, Be Relentless tells the stories of other survivors, victims and their advocates in both the United States and Mexico. Through these stories and through Norma’s persistence, Be Relentless proves that everyday people can make an extraordinary impact in seemingly unchallengeable issues.
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“I believe Norma not only accomplished an extraordinary athletic feat but her goal of empowering survivors as well. It’s also inspired people everywhere to work to achieve their goals, regardless of what their pasts hold. When the documentary is finished, it will continue this mission and also educate people about the issue of human trafficking. Be Relentless will call the world to action to fight the issue.”
—Brad Riley, director of Be Relentless, and founder and president of iEmpathize.
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THE IMPACT
Human trafficking is acknowledged as the fastest growing crime business in the world, impacting hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children. Mexico and the United States take part in this business—tens of thousands are exploited for financial gains in and between our two countries every year.
Be Relentless documents Norma’s epic achievement to shatter a world record and the barriers that hinder legislative and social engagement surrounding this issue.
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The film will serve as a platform to educate and engage the public, industry leaders, and legislative influencers on the under-recognized issue of child exploitation, and inspire a binational response to eradicate the victimization of children. In addition, proceeds will benefit iEmpathize’s ongoing prevention efforts, as well as the projects that empower and reintegrate fierce survivors like Norma.
iEmpathize plans to screen the documentary widely, both in the United States and Mexico. In Mexico, screenings will be tied to the launch of the nation’s first human trafficking hotlines by Polaris Project.
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Norma hugs a survivor in Cancún, Mexico.
“Our bi-national team of policy makers, educators, relief workers, filmmakers, and survivors is committed to bringing the world’s attention to this issue, to inspire and empower change. Be Relentless is designed to unite people in two nations like never before in the fight against human trafficking.”
—Brad Riley, director of Be Relentless, and founder and president of iEmpathize.
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Leif Coorlim, award-winning journalist and executive editor of CNN's
Freedom Project interviews Brad Riley, director of
Be Relentless and founder of iEmpathize.
BE RELENTLESS WITH US
Every day for 65 days, Norma fought the battle of a lifetime against exploitation. And the journey isn’t over. The commitment of every sponsor also brings us one step closer to our goal of finishing Be Relentless, and eradicating human trafficking.
Now it’s our turn—how will you Be Relentless in the fight against human trafficking?
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WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES
94% of funds donated will go to finishing Be Relentless—shooting a final interview with Norma, finishing the edit, color correction, sound mix, motion graphics, translations and subtitling, music score, etc. The final 6% goes to film festival entrance fees and marketing. Whether we reach our funding goal or not, all contributions help us share Norma's inspiring story with the world.
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TEAM
Norma Bastidas, Humanitarian/Single Mom/Record-Breaking Ultra Athlete
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Norma Bastidas is a single mom, survivor and ultra athlete. In 2014, Norma Bastidas broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Triathlon after swimming, biking and running 3,762 miles (6,054 km) from Cancún, MX to Washington, D.C. This challenge surpassed anything ever accomplished in human history. She views this incredible athletic feat as a metaphor for the incredible trials faced every day by the survivors of human trafficking and sexual violence. Norma’s mission is to educate and empower, demonstrating to the world that one’s past does not dictate one’s future, and prove that everyday people are capable of making extraordinary strides in the fight against the problems facing the world today.
Norma’s not only a Guinness World Record holder. On July 11, 2009, Norma became the fastest and fiercest female in history by running 7 of the planet’s most unforgiving environments on all 7 continents in 7 months. Norma trekked through the thick jungles of Brazil and the driest deserts in the world, all in support of the blind and visually impaired. She was selected by Oprah Winfrey about this effort, and profiled as one of 2011’s Extraordinary Moms. In 2012, Norma ran 2,600 miles from Vancouver, Canada to her childhood home in Sinaloa, Mexico for a project called Running Home: A Journey to End Violence. She’s also a 2014 Boston Marathon qualifier.
Learn more about Norma at her website, enjoy her inspirations on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter for the latest training news and updates.
Brad Riley, Director
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Brad Riley is the creator and director of Be Relentless, and the founder and president of iEmpathize, a human rights non-profit based in Boulder, Colorado, whose mission is to evoke empathy and eradicate child exploitation. Brad is also the president of the for-profit caused-based media company, i.e. media.
Brad has been a non-profit innovator for 20 years and his concepts and work are written about in books, as well as shared in university classrooms and at conferences. He is passionate about art as a catalyst for social change, and the work of iEmpathize and i.e. media has garnered international attention and acknowledgements both in their human rights strategies and media production. iEmpathize media has been showcased and recognized by the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center, US Congress, the United Nations and more.
Be Relentless is Brad's most ambitious project ever. "What Norma did is profound, I am deeply moved to produce a project that will profoundly expand the audience of those who understand this issue."
Jessie Marek, Producer/Sound Mixer
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Jessie Marek is an independent producer and sound mixer living in Los Angeles, CA. She grew up in Colorado, and received a BA (Film Studies) and a BFA (Film Production) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She's a passionate about storytelling, travel and using media to make the world a better place.
Terell McConnell, Production Manager
Terell McConnell is the Office and Executive Administrator for iEmpathize, and the Production Manager for Be Relentless. She grew up outside Houston, TX and received her BBA in marketing from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX before moving to Colorado in 2009. Terell loves spending time with her husband and daughter, and is passionate about seeing an end to child exploitation.
Monique Zavistovski, Editor
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Monique Zavistovski was raised by two classical musicians on the edge of the Sleepy Hollow woods in Irvington, New York. She holds an MFA in Cinematic Arts from USC and a BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Films Monique has edited, written, and/or produced have won awards worldwide including at the Sundance, Los Angeles, and South By Southwest Film Festivals. She is the winner of an INSIGHT award for Excellence in Editing/Story Editing for her work on The Shape of Water, narrated by Susan Sarandon. In 2006, a short film she produced and edited, The Wraith of Cobble Hill, won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at Sundance and was short-listed for the Academy Awards. The following year, Monique cut Circus Rosaire, which premiered at Slamdance and won Best Feature Doc and Audience Awards at several festivals. More recently, Monique's work includes the PBS film The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, featuring Kathy Bates, which won the Emmy Award for Best Film in the Historical Category, several Audience and Best Feature Doc awards, and Best Editing at DOCUTAH. In 2012 she cut The Light In Her Eyes, a window into a Qu’ran school for girls in Syria, which aired on POV and toured the world with the Sundance Institute's Film Forward series. She also edited The Diplomat (ESPN 9 for 9 film about East German figure skater Katarina Witt who outsmarted a dictatorship to win her freedom; 2013 Tribeca Film Festival), Life After Manson (a notorious Manson killer breaks her silence after 45 years in prison; 2014 Tribeca Film Festival; NYT Op-Doc), Limited Partnership (an epic love story that defined a movement; 2014 LA Film Festival; Independent Lens broadcast; Winner 2015 IDA Humanitas Award), and CITY 40 (in a closed nuclear city in the heart of Russia, a single mother risks her life to expose the truth in one of the most contaminated places on earth; Executive Produced by André Singer of Academy-Award nominated films The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence; 2016 Hot Docs Film Festival).
Monique is also a co-author of the memoir Children and Fish Don’t Talk: Adventures with Nazis, Communists and the Metropolitan Opera (2013, Sunstone Press). She currently resides in Los Angeles with her daughter and husband, filmmaker and artist, Adam Parrish King.
Simon Scionka, Director of Photography
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Simon Scionka has been traveling the world since he was 17 filming stories about vulnerable and orphaned children, human trafficking survivors and promoting sustainable and entrepreneurial solutions to poverty. Having filmed in 36 countries and counting, Simon always wants to emphasis the beauty, dignity and the creative capacity in each human person.
Simon is the cinematographer, co-writer and editor of the documentary film Poverty, Inc. After premiering at the Austin Film Festival, Poverty, Inc. has earned over 40 festival honors world-wide, including a "Best of Fests" selection to IDFA Amsterdam - the biggest documentary festival in the world.
Other documentaries include the award-winning The Gentle Bear-Man of Emo, The Call of the Entrepreneur and The Birth of Freedom.
“Being a part of this team and filming Norma and her triathlon event has been an incredible journey. I can’t wait to get this film and Norma’s powerful story out to the world!”
PARTNERS
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If you're unable to contribute financially, you can still Be Relentless! Share Norma's story with your community:
Be Relentless Website
@BeRelentlessMov
NormaBastidas.com