Chip Epsten

Everyone knows Elvis Presley’s In the Ghetto and A Little Less Conversation. But who wrote those songs? That was Mac Davis, and almost no one has heard of him. He shares this fate with dozens of other songwriters who have been responsible for massive hits. Coincidentally, many of them live in Nashville, Tennessee – though this documentary reveals that isn’t quite as accidental as it seems.

This harrowing film goes beyond the rhetoric to show why immigrants are willing to risk everything – even virtual slavery – for the American Dream. While politicians, activists, and the media wrestle with the thorny issue of immigration Lives for Sale exposes the painful, rarely seen human side of illegal immigration – especially the growing black market trade in human beings. The documentary also looks at some practical alternatives to these tragic realities. Interviews include immigrants, a "coyote" who brings people across the border for money, clerics, activists, and law-enforcement officials.