The film covers the diaries of 11 young people ranging in ages from age 12 to 21 and are read by Hollywood regulars Elijah Wood, Amber Tamblyn, Joaquin Phoenix, Ryan Gosling, Kate and Oliver Hudson and Brittany Murphey, although I hadn't noticed that until the credits. (I knew the voices sounded familiar, but I hadn't realized who I was listening to until the credits rolled.) Apparently, each of the actors asked to be on the project. Zach Braff also provides the intro and extro for the film. The amazing musical score was composed entirely of tracks by Moby, all of which he did freely and at no cost to the filmmakers, which I think is wonderful. I knew I was enjoying the music, but didn't realize it was all Moby until I heard "Porcelain".
When listening to the excerpts from each diary, it is hard to imagine a young person going through all of this. Even worse is the realization, by the end of the film, that only a scant few of the writers survived the Holocaust. One young girl muses why she even writes her thoughts down and wants to destroy the words because they are a reminder of the event. Fortunately, she didn't, because her writings serve as one part of this important reminder for those of us who didn't live through this atrocity.
What was so intense was the intelligence of these young people, deemed unworthy of living by an insane leader bent on the destruction of a race he saw as less than his own. They are so angry, humiliated and frightened, yet still able to express their feelings so well. One young man, Petr Ginz, even ran an underground newspaper during his captivity. His amazing artwork fills the pages of his diary, as do his plans for the future, which, sadly, never come to pass. Another, Yitskhok Rudashevski, writes in such a poetic manner, his anger and shame shining through with every word. He and his family, like so many others, are shuffled into a ghetto, their belongings taken from them. Eventually, after several years pass, he and his family suffer the same fate most from his ghetto do - shot to death in the nearby Ponar forest.
Hearing their stories brings a piece of them to life. Certainly not the whole of them, because what is captured in this film is only a part of their lives, a horrible part no human should have to endure. But I believe everyone should see I'm Still Here simply because people need to be educated about what happened to this race of people whose only "crime" was their heritage. Kudos to everyone involved in its production.
Special features include an audio interview with Alexandra Zapruder, the woman who collected the diaries and wrote the book I'm Still Here, plus a piece on Genocide Today, an MTV News Special on the film and a printable study guide. I especially enjoyed the piece on MTVU where MTV is trying to get students involved in the issue of genocide happening in Sudan right now. This film is extremely well-done and highly engaging, plus you'll learn something. It doesn't have a rating on it, but parents should be advised that several corpses are shown. While not bloody as they are in black and white, they are still pictures of emaciated bodies, some children, and they are disturbing, as well they should be. I do believe that this film is must-see stuff. Highly recommended.
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