''Baby Sellers'' is a television film starring

Jennifer Finnigan Jennifer Christina Finnigan (born August 22, 1979) is a Canadians, Canadian actress, best known for her role as Bridget Forrester in the American soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 2000 to 2004, for which she won three Daytime Emmy Aw ...

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

and Arjun Gupta exposing the dark world of international baby trafficking.

Synopsis

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

agent Nic Morrison (Finnigan) investigates a corrupt US child adoption agency run by Carla Huxley (Alley) who acquires babies abroad illegally.

Production

The film was shot on location in

Mumbai, India Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, Canada.

Release

The film aired on

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

on August 17, 2013.

United Nations Screening

''Baby Sellers'' was invited by the UN to premiere in the Eco Soc Chamber on August 12, 2013 in front of 400 delegates,

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

's and ambassadors. After the screening, a panel of experts hosted a Q&A. Simone Monasebian, director of United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime chaired the panel which included

Peter Edge Peter Edge is an English-American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of RCA Records. Early life and education Edge was born near Coventry, England. Fueled in part by his sister’s record collection – which included influential ...

, ICE Homeland Security deputy executive associate director, Greg Ramm, director of Global Programs for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

, Robert Halmi, Snr, producer of ''Baby Sellers,'' and Jennifer Finnigan, star of the film.

Reception

Critical reception

Jackie K. Cooper of

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

praised the story and cast, particularly Alley's performance. Dean Robbins of ''The Iowa Source'' said that the writing and direction of the film evoked "maximum outrage".

Audience reception

Airing on

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

''Baby Sellers'' topped Saturday night - Number 1 amongst

cable network Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share devices such as printers or scanners. Different types of network cables, such as coaxial cable, opt ...

s with 2.139 million viewers, #1; 0.848 million adults 18-49 (0.7 rating), #1

Awards

Winner of Best Screenplay at the 2015

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

. A further six Nominations for Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Costume and Best Leading Actress.

References

External links

* English-language Canadian films Canadian drama television films Films directed by Nick Willing Films shot in Brazil Films shot in India Films shot in Vancouver 2013 television films 2013 films 2010s Canadian films 2010s British films British drama television films {{Canada-tv-film-stub