Exclusive: Vivek Ramaswamy Explains Why He Got Involved with ‘City of Dreams’ Film Chronicling Migrant Child Slavery

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS–Vivek Ramaswamy, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate and executive producer of the soon-to-be-released film City of Dreams, which chronicles the depraved world of child slavery and trafficking via the southern border, spoke exclusively with Breitbart News about his motivation for getting involved with the film.

He cohosted the film’s premiere in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday night.

City of Dreams, which shares producers with the 2023 film Sound of Freedom, follows the story of a migrant boy named Jesús, who dreams of becoming a soccer star and is trafficked into the United States only to be thrust into a world of underground child slavery. But Jesús fights back against his captors in the film, which is inspired by true events and has drawn praise from Hollywood legends like Martin Sheen and Sylvester Stallone.

Breitbart News caught up with Ramaswamy Thursday afternoon at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago for an exclusive on-camera interview about the Roadside Attractions film, as well as the Democratic National Convention.

“We’re having this conversation right now as the inspector general report for the Department of Homeland Security reveals that there are now hundreds of thousands more — 320,000 more children than were previously thought to be the number who they have completely lost track of in our country,” Ramaswamy told Breitbart News.

“We’re taught to believe that slavery ended in the United States in the 1860s. Not quite, actually,” he continued. “It exists today, but in a new dark form of this child slavery and child trafficking that’s a direct consequence of our failed border policies.”

Ramaswamy was a staunch advocate for border reforms and security throughout his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2023 and into January 2024. He emphasized to Breitbart News that Americans cannot be reached solely through politics on this issue.

“So one of the reasons I became involved in this film is, A: It’s just a good movie. I think the reality is people say they want to be educated, and people do want to be educated, but you’ve got to be entertaining about it as well, in a heartfelt way that reaches people, not just in their brain, but in their gut and in their heart,” he emphasized. “And so that’s what this movie does.”

Tuesday’s debut in Miami was co-hosted by Ramaswamy and author and self-help guru Tony Robbins, who is also an executive producer of the film, which transcends political lines.

Over 12 MILLION children are trapped in modern slavery today. @cityofdreamsmov is more than just a film—it's a call to action.

Inspired by true events, this powerful story follows Jesús, a young boy with dreams of becoming a soccer star, whose life is shattered when he’s… pic.twitter.com/l2NhjjA8uG

— Tony Robbins (@TonyRobbins) August 23, 2024

“I was glad to be, proud to be an executive producer of it at the first-ever premiere in Miami, and the beautiful thing about it is it wasn’t a political event, actually,” he detailed. “Tony Robbins, another executive producer, I was sitting next to him watching the movie, and you know, both of us might be reluctant to admit it, but we were in tears by the end of it. And speaking, just as a parent of two sons, to watch what this young man went through and to know that there are hundreds of thousands more like him, not halfway around the world in some other hemisphere, but right here in the United States of America, is something that opened my eyes. And I hope it opens other people’s eyes too, Republican and Democrat alike.”

“Half the people in that room, at least half the people in that room, were Democrats,” Ramaswamy continued. “But the fact that we were able to have a conversation, even after that movie, about how this is wrong, regardless of what side of the political aisle you are, is something that I hope unites us. The reality is, today, you have two sets of policies to choose from, and I’m on the side I am because I believe Donald Trump’s going to be the guy who actually seals the border and ends this crisis. But it’s also important for Americans to be able to learn about it outside of the realm of politics as well, so that’s why I was proud to play a small role in bringing this to, hopefully, the American public.”

The film debuts on August 30, and the timing of its Labor Day weekend release is purposeful, Ramaswamy highlighted.

Breitbart News founder Andrew Breitbart famously said that “politics is downstream from culture.” When asked how important it is to build infrastructures outside of traditional Hollywood to highlight stories like these, Ramaswamy said it is “vital to the future of the country.”

“The first and most important problem is we’ve got to fix the federal government and then fix governments across the board to set the right policies. But if we’re going to regain our country and our culture, I think Andrew Breitbart had it right. It’s going to have to come through reforms of the media, reforms of popular culture,” the 39-year-old, who was the youngest ever GOP presidential candidate, emphasized.

“I recently became the second largest shareholder of a media company out there and pushing for not conservative change, but change of a kind that I think adds diversity of thought to an economy,” he added, referring to Buzzfeed. “I think it’s going to require change through capitalism as well. I was a co-founder of Strive, which is a competitor to Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard in the marketplace for capital. It’s part of why I became executive producer of this film, City of Dreams, that’s outside of the realm of politics but educates people about one of the greatest travesties in modern America.”

“So, do we need to fix our institutions through government? Yes, we do, but do we also need to fight the battle through the economy and through our culture, not just to push for conservative goals but for a pro-American vision? Yes, I think we do,” Ramaswamy continued. “I think, in some ways, that’s where we see the biggest deficit. So, since I’ve left the presidential campaign, I’ve looked at wearing a lot of those hats as well. It’s been fun, but it’s also, I think, productive because we need people who are driven and have the talents and the resources to make a difference outside of politics, to continue doing that, and that’s part of why I’ve been involved in some of the projects I’ve been, you know, spawning in the last year.”