Arts and Entertainment

Faculty member's award-winning film to screen at U.N.-related event in NYC

A screening of "The Turn Out," which stars human trafficking survivors and truckers acting in a fictionalized account of their own experiences, will be conducted at 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at the New York Institute of Technology. Credit: Photo ProvidedAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An award-winning, feature-length film directed and produced by Penn State faculty member Pearl Gluck will screen in New York City as part of a partnership with the United Nations Association Partnership for the Education of Human Trafficking.

A free screening of “The Turn Out,” which stars survivors and truckers acting in a fictionalized account of their own experiences, will be presented at 6 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the New York Institute of Technology. Free tickets may be reserved online

Among its many accolades, “The Turn Out” won as Best Debut Feature at Toronto’s Female Eye Film Festival and earned the Critic’s Choice Award at the Iowa International Film Festival.

Although a fictional work, the film relies on the stories and support of survivors of human trafficking. In addition, Gluck, an assistant professor of film-video in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, works with local activists when she travels to festivals.

“One of the main characters in the film is Crowbar, a long-distance trucker who discovers a teenager is being trafficked as his local truck stop in southern Appalachia,” said Gluck. “He then faces a decision — should he get involved in helping her?”

“The Turn Out” is a departure for Gluck, who’s previous films explored stories from the community of Hasidic Jews where she was raised in New York City. The work shares a common theme, which is how people move from becoming bystanders to crime and horror to what she describes as “upstanders” — those who act to protect or save others from harm.

The United Nations Association is dedicated to building understanding of and support of the ideals and work of the U.N. in the United States.

Pearl Gluck produced "The Turn Out" by working closely with human trafficking survivors and truck drivers in central Ohio. Credit: Amy PauszekAll Rights Reserved.

Last Updated June 2, 2021