Perhaps you’ve heard a little bit about the documentary shot on campus a month or so ago; maybe one of your friends was interviewed for it or you noticed a tall redhead holding a camera slowly walking down the aisle at New Life Fellowship. However you’ve heard about it, or if you’re hearing about it for the first time now, allow me to tell you about CATHARSIS. CATHARSIS is a joint-effort documentary between SAU and AU students produced by yours truly and directed by Austin Bates, a senior religion and film major at Southern Adventist University. While the camera crew primarily consists of SAU film students, the first set of interviewees was a handful of your very own Andrews University students: Jea Erazo (sophomore, psychology), Moriah Duncan (junior, social work), Jonathan Burn (junior, mechanical engineering and mathematics), Josh Curameng (sophomore, nursing), and Steven Injety (senior, data science). Let’s get into the details.
What is CATHARSIS?
CATHARSIS is an experience; a documentary filmed during an intimate conversation between each interviewee and our filmmaker. The word “catharsis” means “the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions”–and that is exactly the goal of this documentary. By providing a safe environment in which to talk about one’s experience with the church, CATHARSIS’s goal is to shine a light on what the church is doing right, what the church is doing wrong, and how we can improve together as a community. We aim to incorporate diverse perspectives and tell honest stories of pain, joy, and everything in between. Slated to release in 2023, platform still to be determined, and funded by the public, this documentary promises to be open and honest, with its interviewees and its audience.
Why CATHARSIS?
Austin Bates, the film’s director, shares the following: “The purpose of this project is to talk to Adventist Gen Z and Millennials ranging from around 20 to 35-40 years old and hear their stories; the things they’ve kept inside because they didn’t feel like they could express them because of the unity mentality, the unity push, that we’ve had.” Bates talks about this strong Adventist desire for unity within a community that seemed far more different than the same and how this desire for unity affects what stories are told. His goal is for the film to tell a complete story about how the church has interacted with a younger generation for years. During our first set of interviews, it was incredible to watch people open up about the trauma they’ve experienced at the hands of the church and share their unique insights. Not only is CATHARSIS a release for its audience, it’s a release for those we film as well. We hope when you watch the eventual film, you’ll get to experience the catharsis it provides as well.
What happens next?
In the interests of telling the stories of many Adventists all over the country, this Christmas, the team travels to Portland, Oregon to shoot their next set of interviews, and they would greatly appreciate your monetary help. Freelance filmmaking is an expensive hobby, so if you believe the stories of CATHARSIS need to be told as much as we do, we ask you to consider donating even as little as $1 or even just sharing our instagram with your friends.
Follow CATHARSIS on Instagram here.
Watch the CATHARSIS trailer here.
Donate to the project here.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.