"Sound of Freedom" director Alejandro Monteverde pushed back on claims that his film pushes conspiracy theories and a political agenda in an interview Friday, claiming he only ever had a "pure intention" to make a film about trafficked children.
"CBS Mornings" introduced the segment with Monteverde by noting the success of the summer's surprise box office smash, but also saying it was controversial for its alleged ties to conspiracy theorists.
Monteverde declared at the outset of the interview that "the pure motive of making this movie was to create a social dialogue about child trafficking."
Co-host Gayle King acknowledged, "And that’s a real thing. Child trafficking is a real thing."
The director explained how he was inspired to make the film in 2015 when seeing news reports of children being trafficked, a phenomenon he claimed he knew nothing about beforehand. "It really shook my soul," he said, adding, "so the next day I woke up and I did what I know what to do, I started writing a screenplay based on fiction."
Monteverde said that shortly after starting this project he was connected to Tim Ballard – the real-life former special Homeland Security agent portrayed in the movie by Jim Caviezel – which helped him craft the narrative based on the agent’s own work. Monteverde added, "When I met him, I realized his story surpassed my fiction."
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Eventually, King asked, "But how are you dealing with this Alejandro? Because the movie has made so much money in part because it’s fueled by many people who believe the QAnon theories. Jim, the main star of the movie also has been talking about this. Are you trying to distance yourself from that? Are you asking people, ‘Look, stay focused on what this movie is about?’ How are you handling this?"
Monteverde responded, saying, "The motive was so pure, it was just to shine a light on this darkness, that in the beginning I was heartbroken and my instinct was just to distance myself – just purely for protection."
He continued, "I knew the politics in so many ways divide. This is not an issue that belongs to liberals. It’s not an issue that belongs to conservatives. It is a fundamental human right issue. So the minute I started seeing these labels, it really broke my heart, because it completely took a detour from the core."
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