Film Fest will partner with the 113th Summit to feature true story documentaries.

Charles Smith, a retired minister who is leading Summit Film Fest this year, said he is excited to see the good news of the gospel being spread to students on a different level of film and documentaries. His goal in featuring the films is to spread awareness and open the eyes of the student body to sorrow, hope and joy, which are the themes of Summit 2019.

Smith believes we can relate to these traits by true stories put into film, and these films will be featured are a series of sad stories that give us an opportunity to show love and compassion for others.

One film that will be featured in the Film Fest is “Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which is a true story of a boy in Africa who lived in poverty as he constructs a windmill that pumps water out of a bicycle.

Smith said he took up the opportunity to organize Summit Film Fest with lots of interest and passion even though he does not work for the university.

“I had been retired for two years, and this was a neat way to get connected, and I was fascinated on how powerful ‘the screen’ was in the culture and can be helpful to us and in Christianity,” Smith said. 

One of the films that will be featured is made by alumnus Matt Maxwell who is a media minister at Golf Course Ranch Road Church of Christ in Midland. He produced “Finding Home in Boomtown“ which is a story of a married couple that sells their possessions and begins to build houses for the homeless in Texas. This film was also featured in the 41st annual Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado. The film will be shown on Tuesday night in the Onstead Packer Biblical Studies Building in room 114. 

“ACU is not only my alma mater but my home… Also storytelling is vital to changing the world and we need all the storytellers we can get from ACU” Maxwell said, as he is excited to be back in Abilene.

These featured films relate to the theme of ACU Summit rather than the competition that takes place at the ACU FilmFest.