In three short weeks, the Windrider International Student Film Festival (WISFF) in Park City, Utah, will honor emerging filmmakers whose independent voices reflect the human condition with creativity, compassion, and respect. It will be my privilege to attend this event with my client, Windrider Productions.
Windrider Productions creates partnerships and collaborations with international and humanitarian organizations to tell personal stories, effect social change, and empower communities through documentary film and visual media. Engaging with the world through the power of story—Windrider Productions trains the emerging generation to connect two passions—vocation and faith.
A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing KT McFarland, American communications consultant, speak to a group of collegians. While acknowledging the labels this emerging generation has been dubbed— millennials, entitled, narcissistic, and overall a lost generation—KT declared “you will be the next greatest generation!”
Think about it …
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What other generation has faced the rapidity of the ever-changing technological advances?
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What other generation has faced the number of moral and social changes we have seen … even in the past 10 years?
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What other generation is witness to enormous religious and racial persecution and tension—and because of our advanced technology—literally experiences the tension within the comfort of their own living room?
In no way am I undermining the challenges and conflicts previous generations have faced—the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the Civil Rights movement to name a few. Please do not hear a lack of appreciation for battles fought and won—but hear a heart for presenting a platform where this next greatest generation can express … lead … and create change.
Because of their grasp of technology and their desire for social impact, this generation has tremendous potential to creatively and positively influence our communities. As Leigh Buchanon writes in Meet the Millennials, “One of the characteristics of millennials, besides the fact that they are masters of digital communication, is that they are primed to do well by doing good. Almost 70 percent say that giving back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities.” They want to be a part of something meaningful—not just a job—but something that elevates people over profit.
Presenting films reflecting themes such as redemption, resilience, social justice, equality, diversity, spirituality, dignity, and triumph of the human spirit—WISFF offers a platform for respectful, caring, dialogue revealing the spiritual implications of each filmmaker’s work.
The Sundance Film Festival presents films that cause us to look to the hunger, the hurt, and the cries for justice, mercy, and hope that are embedded within the independent and documentary films. The Windrider Forum honors each filmmaker’s craft by listening to their stories and finding thoughtful, spiritual themes in their work.
Stories have a way of encouraging thought-provoking conversations in a way facts and figures cannot … as demonstrated by these creative filmmakers:
http://tinyurl.com/jeyte7h
Launched in 2005 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the Windrider Forum inspires conversation between filmmakers and film lovers where they can engage in a cultural dialogue—as it takes shape—one that leads with the heart. Many films viewed at Sundance are a visually potent picture of the filmmakers’ heartfelt search for answers. Students and filmmakers alike report each year that the Windrider Forum experience is the location of some of the most engaging conversations on faith, film, and culture, anywhere in the industry.
Sundance Film Festival, Park City Utah
January 21 – 31, 2016
The excitement is building—as filmmakers and film lovers converge in Park City Utah for the Sundance Film Festival! Let us be a people who leave this stellar event—more equipped to have open and honest conversations with a variety of people in our culture—forging conversations that identify our common ground and unite us as we seek to make a positive influence in our communities and around the world.
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