Description: Surviving
International Boulevard reveals the complex reality of domestic
child sex trafficking through the intersecting experiences of two
local women from Oakland, California. Driving along International
Boulevard’s dark streets, a mother recounts her own wild
determination to rescue her fifteen-year-old daughter from a sex
trafficker 'boyfriend'. Night after night, combing the dangerous
streets of East Oakland, she never gives up on her child. Switching
to daylight, a nonprofit advocate and survivor of sexual exploitation
shares her fourteen years of experience helping young victims get the
help they so desperately need. Driving along The Blade as they call
it, Sarai T. Smith Mazariegos, co-founder of MISSSEY.org, breaks down
the raw truth about victims and traffickers as it unfolds on the
street around her.
Biography: Sian
Taylor Gowan makes her directorial debut with Surviving
International Boulevard, bringing attention to the plight of
local children and teens being sex trafficked in our midst. With a
passion for social cause work and a professional background in
nonprofit advertising and outreach, Sian has combined her creative
production skills and nonprofit experience to launch Red Scarf Films,
producing social cause films for awareness and community action.
