Emma Thompson is an outspoken anti-slavery activist. She is the chairman of the Helen Bamber Foundation’s trustees, and when it comes to combatting slavery, her weapon of choice is art. “Sex trafficking is a hugely important subject,” she has said, “and I believe we need as much art as we can get to help people understand what’s going on.”
Her most recent project with the Helen Bamber Foundation? She helped bring to life a concept album about human trafficking. Just Enough for the Real World, released today, was produced by musician Phil Knight, who brought together 12 musicians to create 12 tracks that seek to humanize the issue of slavery. Knight became aware of the issue when he attended the London showing of Journey, a traveling art exhibition co-curated by Emma Thompson, which depicted the global sex trafficking of women.
The album was released today, and is available for purchase in the U.K., and online.
Thompson has not shied away from controversy, in bringing attention to modern slavery. Just last month, she leveraged the publicity surrounding her film “Nanny McPhee Returns“—which she wrote and starred in—to bring slavery into the headlines: In interviews, she criticized Audrey Hepburn’s role as Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady,” saying the actress was “mimsy-mumsy” and “twee.” The character of Doolittle, Thompson said, was a human trafficking victim—and should have been portrayed with the appropriate gravity.
Watch Emma Thompson and Phil Knight’s talk show appearance in the U.K., promoting Just Enough for the Real World after the jump!