Southern Adventist University hosted the 2014 SONscreen Film Festival March 20-22. Begun by the North American Division in 2002, the event is a premier destination for Christian filmmakers to share their creative work, gain exposure, and network with other media and film professionals. SONscreen provided students on campus a transformative opportunity to integrate faith and learning, and several Southern students even won awards over the weekend, including the prestigious “Best in Fest” honor.

Traditionally held in California, 2014 marked the first year SONscreen has gone on the road.

“The organizers of the event have been looking for a strategy to host the event, possibly on a rotating basis, among the schools with established film programs,” said David George, film program coordinator at Southern. “Having one of the longest standing film programs, Southern was chosen as the first university to host the event.”

This year’s SONscreen showcased more than 20 independent projects and provided 11 workshops on topics including lighting, audio and sound design, directing, documentary cinematography, and VFX. Along with workshops, the festival included inspiring panel discussions, presentations, and nightly film screenings.

SONscreen culminated in an awards ceremony on Saturday evening with individual prizes as high as $2,000. The festival honored junior animation major Jason Dull for Best Animation on Disconnected, and senior film production major Matthew Disbro with four awards (Best in Fest Sonny Award, Best Dramatic Short, Best Cinematography, and Audience Choice Award) for The Hideout. Jesse Rademacher, '01, and Daniel Cooper, '12, both of whom teach in Southern’s School of Visual Art and Design, took home a Best Sound award for their work in Sideshow.

Because of its location on Southern’s campus, junior film production major Joseph Cartwright was able to attend SONscreen for the first time this year. He took to heart the message of keynote speaker Dave Christiano who said that writing scripts with sex, violence, sin, and greed is simple; but creating a positive message of lasting and eternal value requires greater skill, dedication, and inspiration. 

“Southern teaches us how to do that!” Cartwright said. “We learn how to make professional looking films and use those talents to bring people closer to God.”