Sanchez says she hopes her documentary, which is cinematically beautiful despite the hideous subject, will inspire Americans, especially young people, to take action.

"Trade," which opens in theaters this weekend, is a less hopeful, if equally harrowing, treatment of the same subject. Based on a 2004 New York Times magazine story by Peter Landesman ("The Girls Next Door,"), the movie shines a light on how traffickers operate from Mexico to a stash house in suburban New Jersey.

The story follows Adriana, a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Mexico City by an organized crime gang, and a naive young Polish woman, who left her country for the false promise of a better life. Terror can't get any worse than what these two endure as they are trundled through barren landscapes, handed off as sexual favors to strangers, and ultimately put up for sale.

A parallel story unfolds as Adriana's 17-year-old brother, Jorge, teams up with Ray, a Texas cop played by Kline, to try to rescue her before she is sold at an online auction.

This is not a fun movie to watch, nor is it likely to improve anyone's opinion of mankind. But it's an important film that makes denial no longer possible. While "Trade" will make you angry, "Sold" will make you want to applaud. Both will make you want to do something.

Ending slavery won't be an overnight fix. You can't throw money at it and make it go away, though a check to the right people will help. Ultimately, slavery is a moral problem that forces confrontation with one's commitment to human dignity.

Put it this way: Once you know that little boys barely out of diapers are sold as camel jockeys, or that little girls are prostituted before they can tie their shoes -- or that any child is peddled to the pedophile with the highest bid -- averting your eyes is not an option.