AMC Loews 34th St. – 9:00pm
Friday, October 20th

I AM STILL HERE By Stephanie Bell
104 min | Drama | USA | 2017
Out of Competition

SYNOPSIS:

Layla is ten years old, and about to meet her new family. She just doesn’t know it yet. An act of kindness met with deception leads to Layla’s abduction and descent into a life of sex slavery hidden in an ordinary neighborhood. It could even be yours. I AM STILL HERE takes us inside Layla’s new world, showing what really happens to these children after the first 48 hours, and why it’s so difficult to combat the fastest-growing illegal enterprise in the world: the child sex slave industry. Starring Johnny Rey Diaz (Hawaii Five-O), Erika Ringor (Love and Basketball), and Ciara Jiana (Sharknado), this movie is based on exhaustive research into real cases, and is dedicated to all the missing children who are still out there. From first-time writer/director Mischa Marcus and Emmy-nominated and award-winning producer Stephanie Bell.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY:

MISCHA MARCUS grew up in Venice, California with a love for film and music. Mischa began singing at the age of five, studying musical theater and jazz. Mischa then fell in love with filmmaking and screenwriting in high school and began to write, direct and produce unique short stories to challenge audiences thoughts, ideals and imaginations. Mischa was one of five young women accepted into USC’s Cinematic Arts creative storytelling program, where she wrote and produced 1 of the 5 films exclusively chosen to be shot on the Warner Brothers backlot. Her film “L’Opera” was selected to close the summer ceremony at USC by former Warner Brothers President Alan Horn. After this, Mischa continued her education at Chapman University learning the many different aspects of fillmmaking from development to post-production.

Mischa wrote and directed “I Am Still Here” (previously titled “Blur”) after discovering that child trafficking was a very real problem near her college. After years of interviews and research, Mischa Marcus teamed up with producer Stephanie Bell to bring the world the movie “I Am Still Here”. A modern day coming of age film bringing to light the epidemic that is stealing childhood innocence and ruining lives across the globe.

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