Benjamin Nolot
{{short description|American filmmaker}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Benjamin Nolot
| honorific_suffix =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Nefarious - Production.jpg
| image_size =
| alt = A black-and-white photograph of four men standing in a room filled with equipment including a videocamera, a speaker, and a spotlight
| caption = Nolot (left) working on Nefarious: Merchant of Souls with other members of the film crew
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|11|12}}
| birth_place =
| disappeared_date =
| disappeared_place =
| disappeared_status =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| body_discovered =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| monuments =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Filmmaker
| years_active = 2007–present
| employer =
| organization = Exodus Cry
| agent =
| known_for = Nefarious: Merchant of Souls
| notable_works =
| style =
| height =
| television =
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| movement =
| opponents =
| boards =
| criminal_charge =
| criminal_penalty =
| criminal_status =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| relatives =
| callsign =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| signature_size =
| module =
| module2 =
| module3 =
| module4 =
| module5 =
| module6 =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Benjamin Nolot is an American filmmaker and the CEO and founder of Exodus Cry,{{Cite news|date=December 6, 2019|title=Seattle's Bikini Baristas Reveals Normalized Sexual Harassment in Bikini Coffee Shops| url=https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/state/seattles-bikini-baristas-reveals-normalized-sexual-harassment-in-bikini-coffee-shops/article_8ff649fe-b0fd-5615-a132-375b17cebbaa.html|work=Chinook Overserver|location= Chinook,WA|access-date=June 30, 2020}} a Christian social activist group focused on the issue of human trafficking{{Cite journal|journal=Southern Courier|title=Raising awareness of Sydney sex trafficking|date=July 25, 2011|author=Leesa Smith|url=http://southern-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sex-worker-slaves-in-sydney/|accessdate=January 9, 2013}}{{Cite news|last=Pitts|first=Elizabeth|date=December 6, 2019|title=Founder of anti-human trafficking organization to speak about prevention on Hawaii Island|url=https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/12/06/hawaii-news/founder-of-anti-human-trafficking-organization-to-speak-about-prevention-on-hawaii-island/|work=West Hawaii News Today|location=West Hawaii|access-date=June 30, 2020}} which has expressed opposition to the "entire global sex industry, including prostitution, pornography, and stripping".{{cite web |url=https://exoduscry.com/theproblem/ |title=The Problem |website= Exodus Cry |access-date=September 7, 2021}} Nolot has also been involved with an International House of Prayer ministry{{cite book |last1=Weaver |first1=John |title=The New Apostolic Reformation: History of a Modern Charismatic Movement |date=28 March 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786499564 |page=138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwUXDAAAQBAJ |accessdate=5 July 2020}} which is based in Sacramento, California.{{Cite journal|journal=Charisma|title='Nefarious: Merchant of Souls' Exposes Sex Trafficking Industry|author=Jimmy Stewart|date=January 2, 2012|url=http://www.charismanews.com/culture/32583-nefarious-merchant-of-souls-exposes-sex-trafficking-industry|accessdate=January 28, 2013}}
Career
Nolot has written, directed, and produced several films. His directing and producing credits include: Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2011), Liberated: The New Sexual Revolution (2017), Spring Break Emcees (2017), Seattle’s Bikini Baristas (2019), and Existence (2020). He wrote Nefarious, Liberated, and Seattle’s Bikini Baristas. Nolot also acted in the short film Existence.
=''Nefarious: Merchant of Souls''=
Nolot wrote,{{Cite journal|journal=Godculture Magazine|title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls|author=Dan Preston|date=June 28, 2012|url=http://www.godculture.co.uk/review-nefarious-merchant-souls/|accessdate=January 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912054702/http://www.godculture.co.uk/review-nefarious-merchant-souls/|archivedate=September 12, 2012|df=mdy-all}} directed, produced, and narrated Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, a documentary film about human trafficking.{{Cite journal|title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls|author=Jamie Rake|journal=The Phantom Tollbooth|date=October 28, 2011|url=http://tollbooth.org/index.php/home/movie-reviews/289-nefarious-merchant-of-souls|accessdate=January 29, 2013}} He also conducted the interviews in the film, speaking with such people as a police officer and a pimp. Other scenes depict Nolot doing things like chasing a pedophile out of a town in which he was trying to purchase the right to sexually abuse a child. The film was distributed by Exodus Cry.{{Cite web|author=Ted Baehr|title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls|date=August 6, 2012 |publisher=Movieguide|url=http://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movie/nefarious-merchant-of-souls.html|accessdate=January 28, 2013}} Nefarious was Nolot's film debut. Filming started in 2007. Nolot travelled to 19 different countries to collect the film's content. These filming locations included countries in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia. Nolot attested to having found producing the film difficult because of the subject matter; he stated that "there is not a day that goes by that I am not mindful of the horrific tragedies we uncovered". He further said that he did not make the film in order to make money or gain fame, but rather, to rouse people to action against human trafficking, an issue he finds both personal and important. Dan Preston of Godculture Magazine praised Nolot's writing and directing of the film. Nolot said that the purpose of the film is "to draw people's attention to the issue, but also to inspire them in terms of what they can be doing... to take a stand against this injustice".{{Cite video|title='Nefarious' Docu-Drama Unmasks Global Sex Trade|author=Julia Gabriel Williams|publisher=Christian Broadcasting Network|date=October 2, 2011|url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/September/Nefarious-Docu-Drama-Unmasks-Global-Sex-Trade/|accessdate=February 18, 2013}} At the 2011 California Film Awards, Nefarious made Nolot the Grand Winner in the Best First-Time Documentary category.{{Cite web|title=2011 Grand Winners|publisher=California Film Awards|url=http://www.calfilmawards.com/Awards/2011_winners/2011_grand_winners.aspx|accessdate=February 3, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206234335/http://www.calfilmawards.com/Awards/2011_winners/2011_grand_winners.aspx|archivedate=February 6, 2012|df=mdy-all}} At the 2012 Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival, Nolot was named Best Director.{{Cite web|title=2012 Kingdomwood Crowned|publisher=Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival|url=http://www.kingdomwood.com/|accessdate=February 3, 2013}}
=''Liberated: The New Sexual Revolution''=
Nolot directed, wrote, and produced this 2017 Netflix documentary.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4150494/|title=Benjamin Nolot|publisher=IMDB}} The film documents college spring breakers in Panama City, Florida, commenting on the exploitation of female bodies and the porn industry’s impact on millennial hook-up culture.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/petition-shut-down-pornhub-trafficking-hub-earn-it/|date=September 1, 2020|author=Samantha Coloe|title=How a Petition to Shut Down Pornhub Got Two Million Signatures|publisher=Vice}} Liberated toured in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.{{cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/revealed-christian-group-netflix-spring-break-sex/|date=May 10, 2018|last1=Provost|first1=Claire|last2=Whyte|first2=Lara|title=Revealed: the US 'Christian fundamentalists' behind new Netflix film on millennial sex lives|publisher=Open Democracy}} However, the film was criticized for its "painting of casual sex as inherently disempowering and the framing of sex as the most sacred act in the world",{{cite web |last=Provost |first=Claire |title=Revealed: the US 'Christian fundamentalists' behind new Netflix film on millennial sex lives |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/revealed-christian-group-netflix-spring-break-sex/ |website=OpenDemocracy.com |access-date=September 26, 2021}} and has been described as "a Christian documentary disguising itself with no mention of its religious bias".
=''Seattle's Bikini Baristas''=
Nolot directed, wrote, and produced the short film Seattle's Bikini Baristas. The documentary, released in 2019, was presented by Magic Lantern Pictures.{{cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seattles-bikini-baristas-reveals-normalized-sexual-harassment-in-bikini-coffee-shops-301047945.html|date=April 28, 2020|title=Seattle's Bikini Baristas Reveals Normalized Sexual Harassment in Bikini Coffee Shops|publisher=Cision}}
Controversy
In 2020, actress Melissa McCarthy and HBO withdrew their support from Exodus Cry after learning that Nolot had expressed "virulent views on social media about abortion rights and gay marriage."{{cite news|last=Rosen|first=Christopher|date=November 13, 2020|title=Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past|work=Vanity Fair|url=https://vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/melissa-mccarthy-exodus-cry-apology|access-date=September 7, 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.exoduscry.com Exodus Cry Official Website]
- [http://www.nefariousdocumentary.com Nefarious Documentary Official Website]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolot, Benjamin}}
Category:21st-century evangelicals
Category:American evangelicals
Category:Anti-prostitution activists
Category:Anti-pornography activists
Category:Film directors from Missouri
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Film producers from Missouri
Category:People from Grandview, Missouri
Category:American documentary film directors
Category:American documentary film producers