With only about 2,500 undergraduate students enrolled and only a few film classes offered every semester, Point Loma Nazarene University isn’t the obvious choice for students looking to get their work on the silver screen. And yet, PLNU has seen successful alumni make it to Hollywood, and current students are finding opportunities to hone their skills right on campus – including those who won at PLNU’s 4th annual Lomaland Film Festival on Feb. 24.
Hosted by Driftwood Creative Arts Journal and PLNU’s School of Humanities, Arts and Public Engagement, the event celebrated this year’s student winners with screenings of their films and interviews with the filmmakers.
To kick off the night, Milla Kuiper, a third-year writing major and co-editor of Driftwood, announced the winners of the film festival. Ryan Cummings, a fourth-year media communication major, Nicole Contreras, a third-year media communication major and Arielle Pickerign, a fourth-year media communication major, won first place in the short film category for “Heaven,” a film exploring what it means for heaven to intersect earth.
“‘Heaven’ was so pretty. I love when you get to read or watch your peers’ work and then it inspires you to write your own thing,” Kuiper said. “I didn’t watch the films ahead of time, mostly because I wanted to watch them with everybody in the room. I think that was cool to experience it with everybody else.”
A hush fell over the room as those in attendance heard the testimony of a woman who was struggling with alcohol addiction shared how she found Jesus. As the film went on, many others detailed their stories of what felt to them like heaven coming down to Earth.
“Not only did they analyze the idea of heaven and how it interacts with our lives at duration, but they also used creative filmmaking approaches to do that,” said James Wicks, PLNU professor of media and film studies. “For example, the 16-millimeter film was a really creative [approach].”
Matthew Hamilton, a third-year media communication major, won in the short-short category with his film “Farmland.” With no dialogue, the film primarily relied on visuals, music and sound effects to convey emotion and suspense.
“With Matthew Hamilton’s ‘Farmland,’ [he] really emphasized sound, setting and location to tell a story in a sophisticated way,” Wicks said. “That one was interesting in the way it moved into more of the aesthetics of filmmaking.”
To close out the night, award-winning documentary filmmaker Cy Dodson spoke on his experience with creating movies.
“I had the chance to meet our invited guest, Cy Dodson, at Sundance about four of five years ago,” Wicks said. “I saw his film ‘Beneath The Ink’ and was just floored by its impact on me and those in the room where it [was screened]. … He’s an Emmy nominated and award-winning filmmaker, so it’s an honor for us to host someone of his stature. It was so amazing that he could visit us and I’m grateful for him and the time that he gave to our campus and students.”
Even for students not majoring in media communication or minoring in cinema studies, according to Wicks, anyone can get involved in filmmaking at PLNU. Wicks and Nathan Gibbs, associate professor of media communication, teach COM2043, an intro-level class that equips students with the skills to produce TV shows and documentaries.
In a panel discussion before the film festival, fourth-year media communication major and actress Annabelle Young from “The Conners” said that having had the experience of being in film classes helped her tremendously when she was acting on set.
“In a film class, you learn about every role that these people do,” Young said in the panel discussion. “You see all those moving parts; you see the choreography that they’re basically doing with cameras and stuff … [you realize] this person is doing this, that person is doing that, and that’s how this all comes to play. I feel like it’s definitely a privilege having been in a film class and then being on a film set.”
Young isn’t the only one who has made a career of her experience at PLNU. 2001 alumnus Destin Daniel Cretton was the director of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” a movie that became one of the highest-grossing films of 2021. This proves that even at a school as small as PLNU, there are still opportunities for students to get equipped with the skills they need to get their work on the big screen. Lomaland Film Festival could be the first step.
“We hope that as the word gets out and people experience [Lomaland Film Festival], they realize they can be a part of it, and that it’s really a chance to celebrate everyone,” Wicks said. “We’d love for the event to grow in the future. We’d like to host a high school film competition as part of the event as well and really be able to feature all the fine members across our community.”
Grace Barrera