The Wrong Light Review Highlights

The Wrong Light Review Highlights

Blog

The Wrong Light Review Highlights

July 31, 2017

The Wrong Light had its theatrical run in New York City at the Cinema Village and in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center this month.  Attending opening night in New York were the film team: Directors Josie Swantek Heitz and Dave Adams (who did a Q&A following the premiere), Producer Susan MacLaury, Editors Chris Tuss and Matt Cascella, Executive Producer Albie Hecht, and Co-Producer Alexandra Blaney.  Susan MacLaury and Chris Tuss also attended the LA opening the following week to do the Q&A there as well.

We want to thank all of our supporters who have been on this filmmaking journey with us for the last 6 years and those who were able to come out and support the film in theaters.  We expect to release the film on DVD and digitally this fall.

And check out some of the reviews:

An engrossing cautionary tale

– Daniel Gold, The New York Times

The film sheds valuable light on the potentially damaging effects of grand-scale deception on the needy and vulnerable.

Gary GoldsteinThe Los Angeles Times

[A] prismatic, thought-sparking documentary.

Chris Barsanti , Film Journal International

Some filmmakers would have decided to dismiss their discomfort…Adams and Swantek do something much more interesting, keeping the audience with them as they flounder around trying to make sense of what has happened and navigate an ethical minefield…. 

A truly eye-opening documentary which challenges a lot of our most dearly held beliefs about charity, The Wrong Light illustrates how unexamined prejudice and genuine cultural difference can combine to help conceal the activities of those who see global inequality as a hotbed of opportunity.

– Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

A dramatic account that will make all do-gooders think twice about how they spend their charitable dollars.

John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter

Asks provocative questions about the sometimes dubious motivations behind activism and philanthropy.

Basil Tsiokos, What (not) to doc

And interviews with the film team

Indiewire: What Happens When Your Documentary Subject Lies
‘The Wrong Light’: Lessons learned after being lured into a compelling (but not altogether true) story about human trafficking from Producer Susan MacLaury

Salon: “The Wrong Light”: Sex, lies and the story of Mickey Choosetha; Two documentary filmmakers uncover a massive hoax while shooting a documentary about sex-trafficked girls

ABOUT

In The Wrong Light, a charismatic activist leads a globally-regarded NGO that provides shelter and education for girls rescued from brothels in Northern Thailand. But as the filmmakers meet the girls and their families, discrepancies begin to emerge and the story takes an unexpected turn.

Runtime: 78 minutes
USA, Thailand/ Not Rated
In Mien and English with English subtitles