Brent Martz
By Ashley Andrews, 700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –"NOT TODAY" SYNOPSIS
Caden Welles has the world at his disposal. With the resources of his wealthy father, he's living life as large as any 20-year-old could dream. But what happens when that dream becomes a nightmare halfway around the world? Traveling with his friends to Hyderabad, India on a whim, Caden's expectations of a never-ending party crash hard. But not as hard as his conscience when he refuses to help a starving man and his little girl. Haunted by the images of Kiran and Annika, Caden attempts to right his wrong-only to discover Kiran has been forced to sell his own daughter. Caden's eyes are now opened to a world few Americans know still exists: a thriving human-trafficking trade. Add the dehumanization of Kiran and hundreds of millions of other Dalits due to India's caste system, and Caden could easily turn his back. Yet spurred by a true purpose, an unlikely new friendship, and the prayers of his mother and girlfriend back home, Caden chooses to help in Kiran's unlikely search to find his daughter.
INSPIRATION
Slavery is not an issue that many consider a problem for today. But they are wrong. And producer Brent Martz wanted to make that evident with his new film "NOT TODAY." Brent was first inspired to make a film about India's "untouchables" when he first visited India in 2007. "We saw so many things and met so many different people, experienced things we had never experienced before to where our hearts were totally changed," he said. And he knew that he had to act.
THE STORY
The film "NOT TODAY" focuses on two weighty topics: 1) the epidemic of human trafficking in India and 2) the persecution of India's untouchables, known as Dalits. In the story, both Annika and her father Kiran are Dalits. And Dalits, research shows, comprise close to one quarter of the India's 1.2 billion-member population. But, because of India's caste system, they are seen as inherently worthless. As a result, they face discrimination and poverty, making them extremely vulnerable to traffickers. An estimated 3 million people in India are enslaved in the sex-trade alone, 1.2 million of whom are children, according to the Dalit Freedom Network. Sadly, "Many people," Brent said, "have not even heard of the Dalit people. If they have, it was in a passing comment or news story." But this film, Brent hopes, will put an end to that. "NOT TODAY" aims to make movie-goers understand what it really means to be one of the 250 million people who are enslaved in India because they are untouchable, the outcasts, and the unwanted."
Along with Annika's plight, the film includes the story of Caden, a materialistic American college student, who ends up assisting Kiran in the search for his daughter. "Stories have a way of breaking through those informational walls that we build up, and by using a young American protagonist, the audience will understand the plight of human trafficking through the eyes or experiences of people like them...when we can see ourselves in a story, we are much more likely to get involved." And, as he shared, "I hope that the film, will help make trafficking in India a reality to American audiences...And I hope, we all hope, that the story will prompt them to take action to stop it...We want people to join us to become part of this story - to become part of this cause to see slavery abolished in India," he said.
The film is due to be released in the US in April 2013, however it has already gained international recognition at the 2012 Monaco Charity Film Festival. It was there that Persis Karen, the young Dalit girl who plays the role of Annika, picked up "Best Breakthrough Performance" despite being just seven years old during filming. Friends Church is currently the largest supporter of the Dalit Freedom Network in their mission to prevent trafficking of Dalit children by building 1,000 schools throughout India. So far, the church has committed $20 million to the project. As Brent put it, "It is a global issue and is going to need global action."
DALIT FREEDOM NEWTORK (DFN)
For more than a decade, the Dalit Freedom Network has been helping educate Dalit children in India, as part of their work as the leading voice of justice for the Dalits. Through education, the opportunity for freedom is born. Each child that attends school discovers they were created with a purpose. And through education, they can lift themselves and their families from endless generations of discrimination and abuse. According to a 2006 United Nations Special Report on the Right to Education, "Dalit children face considerable hardships in schools, including discrimination, discouragement, exclusion, alienation, physical and psychological abuse, and even segregation, from both their teachers and fellow students." By building 1,000 schools specifically for Dalit children, the Dalit Freedom Network provides a setting without these negative factors. Friends Church, which produced "NOT TODAY," is in the midst of building 200 schools over a 10-year period.