Two documentaries created by ACU students were featured at the second annual Abilene Frontier Film Festival.

The Abilene Frontier Film Festival was held on Oct. 2 and 3 at Frontier Texas, and it celebrated independent filmmaking through screenings, Q&A sessions and awards.

Cody Tolle, festival founder and director, described the event as “West Texas meets independent filmmaking,” providing a space for emerging filmmakers to share their work. Tolle said the festival looks for films that connect with Texas culture and the Big Country. Among this year’s official selections were documentaries by ACU filmmakers Lianne Campos and Makayla Clayton. 

One of these projects, Housing Hope, grew out of Professor Dominique Anderson’s Documentary class, where students worked together to produce a film centered on the story of Janna, a woman whose life was transformed after overcoming chronic homelessness with the help of Hope Haven.

Throughout the semester, students collaborated during production, each taking on roles ranging from directing and producing to camera operation and audio. After filming together, every student edited their own version of the documentary. Recent graduate Lianne Campos’ edit was ultimately selected as the class’s submission.

Campos said Janna’s resilience is what inspired her throughout the creation process.

“I really wanted to be faithful to her and honor her story and tell it in a positive light as a testimony of God’s faithfulness in her life,” Campos said.

Campos said learning from an instructor actively working in the film industry made a difference throughout production. 

“She really guided us in a way that still allowed us to shine,” Campos said. “She kind of showed us the ropes. It was really cool to learn from somebody that was doing it all the time.”

Housing Hope received the Best Student Documentary award at the festival. The documentary has also been selected for additional film festivals outside of Abilene, with more screenings and award announcements still to come. Campos said the recognition was encouraging after months of work.

“It keeps you wanting to pursue it,” Campos said. “Whenever it’s accepted into a festival … it’s really nice to have that reassurance.”

Tolle said Housing Hope also stood out because it documented ACU students serving the Abilene community.

“We’re getting to see these students go out and contribute to the greater good of our community,” Tolle said.

While Housing Hope grew out of the classroom, Makayla Clayton, senior journalism major from Rhome, said Restored began during a Wildcats on Academic Mission trip to Rwanda. 

Clayton traveled with an engineering team, documenting the group’s work alongside Rwanda Children, a nonprofit founded by ACU alumnus Serge Gasore.

The documentary follows the students’ experience while also sharing Gasore’s story of surviving the 1994 Rwandan genocide and returning home to build a school for children in his community.

“I think it’s nice to have this message reach other people that aren’t ACU students because I want more people to hear about Serge and how amazing his story is,” Clayton said.

Clayton independently submitted Restored to the festival through FilmFreeway with support from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Clayton said she hopes audiences leave the documentary recognizing their shared humanity despite cultural differences.

“We might have different cultures,” she said. “We might look different, but we are all children of God.”

Beyond showcasing student work, Anderson said the festival is helping strengthen connections between ACU and Abilene’s growing film community. Housing Hope marks the second documentary from her class to be selected for the festival, something she hopes will become a continuing tradition.

“My goal in teaching film is to build the film community here in Abilene,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she views the Abilene Frontier Film Festival as ACU’s hometown festival and wants students involved both as filmmakers and as volunteers. She has begun working with festival organizers to create more opportunities for students to participate in future events.

“I want our students to be part of that community,” Anderson said.

Isaac Peery, freshman multimedia major from McKinney, attended the festival and said the festival highlighted the growth of filmmaking at ACU.

“I don’t think a lot of people in Abilene know that people in Abilene do films,” Peery said. “It raises awareness that there are studios here … and colleges that do film and can bring the industry to the city.”