Soderberg shot the film himself. Traffic received Oscar nominations for film stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones and a Best Director Award for Soderberg.

The American Drug Czar’s daughter, predictably, is on heroin. This film concentrates on the story of a public drug fighter who has a drug addict for a daughter, and a very well-organized net of corruption in the highest strata of American society. This is a story told many times before, but with Soderberg at the helm, and Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas in starring roles, this film really sells itself.