SAICFF

My mother, sister, and I went to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this past October. It was held (rather obviously) in San Antonio, Texas. We visited the city's wonderful boardwalk many times that weekend and even got lost on it once! :-)

When Mom and I went to the boardwalk last year, we had seen some gorgeous flowers, but didn't get any pictures. Well, the same bush was blooming this year and I finally got my pictures!

What a refreshing weekend! I have said before that one of my loves is Christian Filmmaking. It was so wonderful to be in a place where so many others shared the same feelings.

And think of it! It was a place where you were the odd one out if you didn't where a skirt! That was a new and encouraging experience for me. One day I even dressed in my Regency dress and hardly got a second glance, well, at the festival that is. When we went to the boardwalk, there were one or two.

We were also able to meet "old friends" from the Sense and Sensibility board. We had planned to have dinner at a park and everyone dress up historically. Unfortunately we were a few minutes late and missed the main group, but as we were trying to figure out what to do, another girl from the board showed up. We wandered around with her looking for them. A kind man then asked us if we were looking for the "S&Sers". We replied yes and he pointed us in the right direction. It was so neat to meet everyone!

There were so many wonderful films presented this year. The Photographer was one of my favorites. I found out about it first through the Sense and Sensibility board back around April/May. The sisters of the young man who made it were on the forum and were talking about it. Then I went to Masterworks and one of the girls there that I knew from two years ago mentioned that she had worked for a film doing makeup/coaching/whatever that was going to be entered into a contest. By comparing when she told me about the plot and what I already knew from the board, we discovered that she had worked on the same movie! So when I got back to a computer, I U2Ued the girl on the board and we "met." So after waiting all summer, I was finally able to see the film. It was amazing! Everything was so meticulously thought out an prepared. At the end, I thought, This is the kind of Christian movie I've been waiting for.

Another amazing film in the competition was The Monstrous Regiment of Women. This was a documentary about what feminism has done to women, particularly in this present day and age. It is truly heartbreaking to see the lies that women have bought. I would highly recommend this documentary for adults. Because of all the themes it deals with, I would not recommend it for children (they show actual footage of an abortion, which we fast forward), but I do think it's important that women today, especially young women know what feminism has done to our culture.

We also were able to see the world premiere of The Return of the Daughters. What an inspirational and convicting documentary. I have already shared that I am a "stay-at-home daughter" and this really encouraged in what I am doing now and challenged me to do more. The documentary shows the lives of five young ladies who have chosen not to follow the world's path, but to follow God's directives for young ladies. They are all stay-at-home daughters who help their fathers, their families, and their community. I would also recommend getting this DVD if you are interested in knowing how and why these girls chose to stay home.

After a long weekend fully of exciting new meetings (the people from the S&S board, and others) and some wonderful old reunions (we got to see the Chanceys again and the Keens, it was so good to be able to all-too-briefly catch up.) we were tired, but ready for the twelve hour drive home.

I thank and praise the Lord that we were able to spend such a wonderful, inspiring, convicting, encouraging, friendly weekend with others who are like-minded.

Tiffany