A Dance for Bethany
A DANCE FOR BETHANY tells an inspiring and compelling story of how one woman risks everything to help a sex trafficked victim out of the world of slavery and into a world with a future and a hope of fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming a real dancer.
The fictional Bethany Stevenson is iconic as a 12-year-old runaway forced into sex slavery as a stripper/prostitute. The film chronicles the struggle of reporter Abbey Fisher to free her own self from the bondage of a politically correct and comfortable lifestyle. All the while she gets closer to exposing a secret that Ruby, Abbey's mother has been keeping for 35 years. Fate's truth wheels are set in motion.
After meeting and befriending young Bethany, Abbey immediately meets opposition from local club owners who don't want to lose one of their prime moneymakers. Abbey is quickly challenged when she learns that she is caught in a tightly woven web of politics, morals and crime and becomes a problem to those who want to profit from sexually exploiting young women. She takes on her husband and his colleague, Senator George Abbot and their attempt at creating legislation that inadvertently profits by the retailing of sex in the US thereby legitimizing it. With the help of Sarah, Abbey's Co-worker and Eric Vandevere, local dance instructor, Bethany receives support and courage to make a new life for herself and in the process publicly exposes the dehumanization of the sex trade in her city.
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ASHEVILLE- The producers of "A Dance for Bethany" hope the film gives Asheville worldwide exposure while drawing the nation's attention to something many people are working to hide – human trafficking. "A Dance for Bethany," a film produced in various locations around Asheville, opened Friday at the Carmike. It will have showings at the Cinebarre theater next week, leading up to a Thursday premiere at the Fine Arts theater downtown.
Filmmakers Yvonne and Marion Williams, of North Asheville, hope the gala won't glitz over the shadowy world of the film's subject matter. At least 27 million people are being held in slaverylike situations around the world, Mini Singh, a former employee of the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project at Brandeis University, states on the project's Web site.
"Setting the movie in Asheville "was not meant to link it to sex trafficking," said Yvonne Williams, who wrote the screenplay, "but to get (Asheville's name) out there as a city." There are plenty of locations for people to see, including Wall Street, Richmond Hill Inn, the Ice Factory and Grace Episcopal Church. More than 200 Asheville area residents were hired for limited roles when the film was produced in 2006, executive producer Marion Williams said. If he and his wife were successful in getting a national and international distribution deal, "A Dance for Bethany" will bring more exposure to the growing film industry centered in Asheville.
Several film and video production companies have moved or opened in the area in recent years, including 2 Bruce Studio and See No Evil Films, both of Asheville. The film and video production industry spent about $5 million last year in Western North Carolina – up from $3.5 million the year before, according to Mary Trimarco, director of the WNC Film Commission.
"A Dance For Bethany" chronicles the struggle of reporter Abbey Fisher (played by Robyn Lively) to free herself from the bondage of a politically correct and comfortable lifestyle to help Bethany Stevenson (Laurie Beth Edgeman), a stripper forced to work as a prostitute by handlers that enslave and abuse her. The movie is actually a romantic drama about the friction in the relationship between Abbey and her husband, James (William McNamara), firebrands for justice when they were dating in college but who become complacent in their professional success.
The U.S. State Department defines human trafficking as modern-day slavery involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Annually, its Web site states, about 600,000 to 800,000 people – mostly women and children – are trafficked across national borders, which does not count millions who are trafficked within their own countries.
"Human trafficking has really become a multibillion-dollar industry," said Terry Coonan, executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University, on his Website. "Unlike drugs, humans can be recycled. They can continue to be exploited, so it's a better investment for the traffickers."
The film has already attracted supporters from out of state. The New York Coalition Against Sex Trafficking will show it during a multiday event in late October, said Anya Cherneff, a program and development associate at the coalition. "Hopefully, it will make people realize that trafficking isn't just a international issue, but domestically, it is a big, big problem," Cherneff said. "It's not just girls coming into this country, but it's also American girls that are being abused." Vineyard Boise Church in Boise, Idaho, heard about the film and wants it to be shown in its city. "When I found out about the movie," member Carrie Bisping said, "the thought I had was that this could be one such opportunity … to see not only a greater number of people informed but also see the revenue brought in go toward those already directly involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of child sex trafficking."
"We felt it was something we were called to do," Williams said. "It seemed to be a story that wanted to be told at this time. Every film that you see exploits an issue of some kind, and it generates revenue. We want to turn that around and raise awareness and plow money back into the people that are working to make a difference."
