Catholic in Film School

I didn’t say this in the vlog episode, but the Cinema Vita Film Festival was definitely a success. All of the winning films are now up on the website for viewing.

My favorite by far was “Wrinkles in Time”, winner of the high school category. It was a documentary by homeschooler Nathanial Sharpe, that expressed his “belief that the dignity and meaning of life is not altered by a person’s inablility to sustain themselves. This film endeavors to show the beauty in the lives of an elderly woman and her great-grandson, holding them up in the cause of every weak or despised person in the world.”

I was able to meet some very nice people, including fellow Catholic film buffs, and even one starting a production company in San Francisco. I’ve said before how important this film festival truly is. Times are changing my friends. Hollywood is changing–well, not really, but the film industry is changing, and Catholics are coming along for the ride.

I remember praying to God four and five years ago when I was just making my journey back to the faith, completely at a loss with what to do with my desire to go into the film industry. I have friends who have been missionaries in dangerous places. I know others who have become seminarians and teachers—other vocations that at the time seemed more important. But if there’s anything I’ve learned since I began my college years, it’s that if you lay your burdens down in front of the Lamb, He’ll take care of the rest. God has a plan, and I’m in it too.

A day doesn’t go by without one of my film professors cracking a joke about what it’s really like “out there.” I’ve had a few tastes of it and I know it will be hard, but with the successes of various Catholic film endeavors like the Cinema Vita Film Festival, I can’t help but be excited. I’m really, very truly excited.

Pax Christi, Rebecca.