TORONTO – TVO documentary Migrant Dreams has been awarded the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prize for Journalism in recognition of the difference that it has made to the lives of Canadians.
Commissioned by TVO, Migrant Dreams is a critical examination of migrant labour in Canada and tells the story of a group of women, mostly from Indonesia, who came to work in Ontario greenhouses as part of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The film exposes the harsh working and living conditions these women face and reveals how despite coming to Canada to build a better life, they find themselves exploited by corrupt recruiters and a broken system.
The Sidney Hillman Foundation also named Migrant Dreams writer/director and producer Min Sook Lee, producer Lisa Valencia-Svensson, executive producer Rose Gutierrez, and TVO's documentaries executive producer Jane Jankovic as recipients.
Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honoured U.S. journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good. In 2011, the Sidney Hillman Foundation inaugurated the Canadian Hillman Prize, honouring journalists who seek out stories that change lives, whose work identifies important social and economic issues in Canada and helps bring about change for the better.
"TVO is honoured to be awarded the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prize for Migrant Dreams”, said TVO CEO Lisa de Wilde, in the news release. “Congratulations to Min Sook Lee for creating this extraordinary documentary."
"The migrant workers profiled in this documentary risked their livelihoods and status in order to expose the criminal treatment of workers in Canadian farms," added Lee. "The Canadian Hillman Prize for Migrant Dreams is recognition of their courage. We are honoured to be able to use documentary as a medium to mobilize truth and testimony for social justice."
Encore presentations of Migrant Dreams will air March 22 at 9:00 PM ET and at midnight on TVO. It is also available online at tvo.org, as is an interview with Lee on TVO's current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin.
Photo courtesy of Tiger Spirit Productions
