Human Cargo (2004)★ 6.4/10

CA · January 4, 2004 · 1 seasons

• Drama

Directed by: Brad Turner

Written by: Brian McKeown, Linda Svendsen

A riveting thriller shot on location in Vancouver and South Africa, HUMAN CARGO is an unflinching look at the world of refugees in the post 9/11 world and of the people who sacrifice their lives to help or hinder them. This stark miniseries features an international cast, from Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, Palestine, and Turkey, including Oscar nominee, Kate Nelligan (The Prince of Tides), Nicholas Campbell(Da Vinci's Inquest), Bayo Akinfemi, Myriam Acharki,Cara Pifko, Nthati Moshesh, Sam Kalilieh. Six stories intersect explosively on the front lines of the world's refugee crises: At the Canada-U.S. border crossing, four Honduran boys are found dead in a produce truck, and Jerry Fischer, a committed refugee lawyer suddenly finds himself involved in an Afghani woman's refugee claim which forces him to choose between his family, his work, and his life. Nina Wade, an ambitious right-wing politician, goes down in flames in a federal by-election and is parachuted into the Refugee Board, where her racist views not only inflame her colleagues and the legal community, but eventually test the country's perception of itself. Helen Wade, Nina's daughter, disgusted by political machinations and on a mission to help others, signs up with an unproven relief agency and lands in a refugee camp, in central Africa, in the middle of an ethnic-driven conflict. In the same camp, Odette Kaba battles against the shifting hierarchies, disease, child-soldier recruitment, and starvation, to keep herself and her three young children alive. Ultimately, it is Odette's brother, Moses Buntu, after enduring torture and degradation, who escapes from Africa and files a refugee claim in Canada that threatens the moral foundations of the country.