For the first time in five years, an Andrews University student premiered a film at the Sonscreen Film Festival. Sonscreen is an Adventist film festival—held this year from April 13 to 15 in Loma Linda, CA—that is sponsored by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Over that Thursday to Saturday, a large number of short films in categories ranging from comedy to drama are shown in blocks with similar short films in their genre. Films must be submitted prior to the festival, after which they are screened by the festival organizers and certain ones are accepted for showing during the festival. During each screening block, a special panel of the creatives behind each film is assembled and asked questions from the audience. Actors, directors, writers, and other creatives share their film know-how and creative inspiration. The event is a wonderful opportunity to network with fellow film creators, see your film on the big screen, and experience the medium of film in a weekend.
Khaylee Sands (senior, general studies) thought she was just completing the “8 words assignment” for her Intro to Film class with Professor Daniel Weber, but just a few months later, she was on a flight to Loma Linda for the only Adventist film festival in the world. “The Deal,” her original short film, is based on an assignment where students had to choose 8 random words and then craft a storyline from them. Then, each student pitched their idea to the class and the best idea was put into production as a short film. “The Deal” was filmed in our very own Rec Center and starred Jason Goliath (senior, public health) and Thandi Dewa (senior, biology). Simon Brown (senior, music performance) directed, Nathaniel Reid (sophomore, engineering) edited, Joel Pelletier (freshman, explore) produced and boom operated, and Moraya Truman (freshman, religion and communications) was the head grip. The short film tells the tale of a guy who wants to shoot his shot with a girl, but she won’t go on a date with him unless he beats her at Uno. Khaylee wrote and was the Director of Photography, the official industry term for the person behind the camera who chooses and sets up each camera shot.
Initially, Khaylee intended for the assignment to end there, but over spring break she received an email from Professor Weber asking if she wanted to enter her film into Sonscreen. Right after she got back from spring break, Professor Weber told her the news that her film had been accepted into the festival, making her a finalist! Her experience at the festival was very positive—she and Nathaniel Reid attended to represent “The Deal” and she sat on the panel for Comedy short films. She really enjoyed getting the chance to meet the editors of “The Chosen” and made lots of friends, saying “Everyone was really encouraging. Even if the film was only a minute, there was a lot of positivity and constructive criticism.”
I sat down with Khaylee herself to talk about the film, the festival, and what it means to be an Adventist in the film industry.
“One big takeaway is that I’m not alone in feeling lonely in this industry. A lot of people tend to say, it’s not a real job and you’re going to have to work twice as hard to get established. A lot of the films shown centered around this feeling, which was eerie. Other people recognized that as well.”
The festival gave creators an opportunity to commiserate and feel understood in these complicated human feelings.
We also talked about how difficult it can be to be an Adventist in film. After all, for years, Adventists famously didn’t even watch movies or go to movie theaters due to their religious beliefs. “I personally think that your religion, your Christianity, your faith, is not monolithic. Film is a form of creativity and expression that a lot of people use. So if film is a way that an Adventist sees as a way to express themselves, then it shouldn’t be an issue… I think there’s always room for learning and education. As an Adventist, I can show people that we are more than the commonly assumed stereotypes about us. What I did realize at Sonscreen, without even trying, some films had a second meaning, and you could tell it was tied to their Adventist faith. You can add your own flair of creativity as an Adventist without it having a negative impact on viewers.”
Khaylee found that her time here at Andrews University added to her experience with film. Professor Weber, who teaches Introduction to Film, helped bring together this chance for her to go to Sonscreen and she only spoke about him in glowing terms.
“I want to shout out Professor Weber for real, for always affirming me and giving me encouragement on the smallest details in class. He never let the little things slide and was always looking for things to positively affirm me with. He’s in it not for the ‘I’m your teacher at this point,’ but he is doing it for the well-being of his students. He’s really looking out for people.”
As for whether you should take Introduction to Film as well: “Take it! Do it—just do it. I was walking through the Gazebo when I saw this class [Introduction to Film] was posted and I was a PT major at the time, and it just struck a chord with me to just take the class because it was something I was passionate about. If you’re interested in it, just do it. Don’t second guess your own feelings about a passion that you have and don’t put anything that you know you’re good at to the side.”
What are her next plans? “I think I am going to continue exploring my creativity in film or cinematography. Anything that has to do with the digital creation world. I have a passion for it and I don’t see that subsiding anytime soon. It’s only going to go up from 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.