“Catch the Fair One”: Kali Reis Stars as an Indigenous Boxer Fighting Against Sex Trafficking
Real-life world champion boxer and Indigenous advocate, Kali Reis, co-wrote and stars in the recently released thriller, Catch the Fair One. The film, released on February 11th, is about an Indigenous boxer, played by Reis, who fights to find her sister, Weeta, who was kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring.
Reis, who is Native American and Cape Verdean, co-wrote the screenplay with Josef Kubota Wladyka, who isn’t Indigenous. He knew this “wasn’t his story to tell,” Reis said, according to NBC, so he “really took the great approach of just getting to know me and my story. He sat down with my elders and really just wanted to share information back and forth, especially on the subject of missing and murdered Indigenous women.”
Kali Reis is part of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women movement. The film reflects the threat of abduction and/or murder that Indigenous women face. “Our women, girls, and two-spirts are being taken from us in an alarming way,” the website reads.
“As of 2016, the National Crime Information Center has reported 5,712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. Strikingly, the U.S Department of Justice missing persons database has only reported 116 cases.
“The majority of these murders are committed by non-Native people on Native-owned land. The lack of communication combined with jurisdictional issues between state, local, federal, and tribal law enforcement, make it nearly impossible to begin the investigative process.”
Sex trafficking is a particularly real threat to Indigenous women and girls. “In New Mexico, a mere 160 cases have been opened since 2016,” according to The Guardian. “But, while Native Americans make up about 11% of the state’s population, they account for nearly a quarter of trafficking victims, according to data compiled from service organizations.”
The horrific statistics are one thing; the lack of governmental care about them is another. “When it comes to human trafficking, indigenous women and girls are the least recognized and least protected population in a state that struggles to address the problem. An almost total lack of protocols, mandated training and coordination among law enforcement systems and medical institutions has ensnared victims in ongoing cycles of exploitation.”
Kali is all too aware of the lack of care when it comes to murdered, missing, and exploited Indigenous women and girls. “I get alerts on my phone all day, every day, about Indigenous people going missing, and we don’t see that,” she said.
Catch the Fair One was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Kali Reis is nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for best female lead in her debut role.
Catch the Fair One is available on Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu.
