For those who might be wondering, "SAICFF" stands for "San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival." This was my third year in attendance, and it is always a highlight of my year! How incredible to be surrounded by thousands of like-minded believers who are passionate about the same thing you are! The week starts off on a smaller scale when several hundred people gather to attend the Christian Filmmaking Academy, and the numbers grow into the thousands on Thursday when more filmmakers and homeschooling families come to attend the Film Festival over the weekend.
I attended the Academy in 2010, but since then I have not had the finances to do so. However, I have far too many friends down there to be able to see them all during the Festival, so for the past two years I have made myself comfortable on a chair or sofa outside the auditorium during the sessions and have taken advantage of breaks and meal times to visit with my friends. It has always been very worthwhile to have that extra time for socializing and networking.
This year, the journey began on Sunday, February 3rd. I boarded a plane mid-morning, had a 2 hour layover in Atlanta, and finally arrived in Texas around 5:30. My dear friend Anna picked me up from the airport and took me to a Super Bowl party that her family was attending. I had lots of fun meeting new friends, eating lots of good food, and playing fun games (all of which is much better than watching football, in my opinion).
Here's a video I put together from that first day (sorry about the darkness - I should have used my real camera instead of my bloggie camera for such dim lighting):
Monday came early and brought lots of excitement about seeing so many friends! Some I had seen during the year, but others I hadn't seen since the last film festival. The SAICFF is always a big, happy reunion!
Monday and Tuesday nights, I stayed with my friends from Michigan who I worked with on "The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" last Summer. On Tuesday, Amanda and and I matched with black and white outfits (I promise we didn't plan it!).
My corner station during the Academy, where I worked on my laptop during the sessions. There was plenty to do, and time passed pretty quickly.
(photo credit: Joe Henline)
On Wednesday, we all wore our "Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" t-shirts! (Except Harmony, because we ran out of small shirts.)
On Thursday, the Festival began and thousands of new faces appeared on the scene! I was glad to see my friend Jessie for the first time in over two years, and meet her sister and their friend Mary!
For lunch on Thursday, I set up a networking meeting between some friends of mine. I may not know how to network for myself, but I sure have a great time networking for everybody else! There were at least six instances where I got people connected with other people who could really benefit them! It was so fun!
Thursday night, we had a ChristianFilmmakers.org meeting in the park before the opening ceremonies. Another great chance to visit with lots of friends!
An instagrammer instagramming an instagrammer instagramming an instagrammer. If Jean-Marc had been instagramming from his position, that sentence could have gone on indefinitely...haha!
So proud of my friend Levi who played the bagpipes on stage at the beginning of the opening ceremonies!
After the screening, those of us who had worked on the project (as cast and/or crew) went to Denny's and hung out. Only Rebekah and Andrew are missing from this picture.
Shaina was also at Denny's with some friends!
On Saturday, I was sick in my hotel room all day. I think it was from exhaustion. My body is really sensitive to lack of sleep, and I had gotten less than 4 hours of sleep the previous night, less than 5 hours the night before that, and no more than 6 hours the rest of the week. Anyway, it wasn't fun, and I was very grateful I felt well enough to attend the awards ceremony that night. I wasn't strong enough to walk down, but some friends came to my rescue and gave me a ride in their car.
With my "Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" friends again!
So excited to share the screen with these two in the "In His Steps" movie!
Awesome brothers from Michigan.
More awesome brothers from Pennsylvania.
The next morning, Melissa took me to the airport, and I arrived back in Virginia at 5:00 pm. It was so good to be home again! I went to bed at 9:40 and stayed there for 12 hours (sleeping about 9 hours). I was starving when I woke up, then realized that I had only eaten two actual meals in the past 88 hours. No wonder I was weak and hungry!
What a wonderful week. I am missing all of my friends. It was fabulous to spend time with old friends, get to know other friends better, and meet new people or those whom I had connected with on Facebook but hadn't met in person. I will admit I was shocked all week at how many people knew who I was and what I had been doing over the past year. Most of these were filmmakers I had met briefly at the last Festival and had become friends with on Facebook, but there hasn't been much of any interaction so I had no idea if they would remember me. Time and time again I would approach such a person, greet them and give them my name, and they would say, "Yes! Stacey! You sure have been busy working on a lot of projects this past year! I'm always seeing your posts pop up in my newsfeed." Haha, I'm sure the look of surprise on my face was amusing. :-) Anyway, it was really fun to connect with these guys on a more personal level.
So many blessings throughout the week. Beautiful weather (almost every day). Good discussions. Networking on behalf of my friends. Gentlemen who knew how to be godly leaders and protectors, and who were ready to come to my aide if needed. So much fellowship. So much encouragement.
I actually only watched one movie during the festival (besides "Alone Yet Not Alone," which wasn't competing). I saw "Indescribable," and it was very well done! Many of my friends worked on that film as cast and/or crew, and they have good reason to be proud of the finished project.
The awards ceremony was absolutely incredible. Especially the grand finale - the Best of Festival. It went to a film called "The Drop Box." Even though I hadn't seen the film and didn't even know anything about it, I was deeply moved by testimony of the young man who made it, and the speech that he gave as he opened up his heart and let the Spirit speak through him. It was so beautiful, and brought tears to many eyes. Take a few minutes to watch the video below, provided by Vision Forum. You won't want to miss this special moment. Everybody came away convicted and inspired.
Well, I think I've hit on most of the highlights, without going into all the specific details that would turn this post into a short book. :-) I still have a lot to process from discussions and conversations throughout the week, and I might be posting those thoughts later. But for now, I bid you all a good night!
2 comments:
Great post Stacey!! (In the second picture up from the bottom, are you being lifted in the air?) :) We thoroughly enjoyed watching the awards ceremony via live stream! We saw Justin and Amanda when the camera panned the audience, but we didn't see you...glad to hear you were able to go. :)
Hey, Alyssa! Haha, yes, Josh is lifting me off the ground in that picture. Quite a ways off the ground, although it's hard to tell from looking at it. :-D
I'm so glad you were able to watch the streaming of the ceremony! Next time maybe I'll sit closer to the cameras, hehe! I was in the last row in the back, so I was way out of range. It's fun that you saw Justin and Amanda, though!
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