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Southern Adventist University filmmakers earned eight awards at the 2026 Sonscreen Film Festival, including Best in Festival, along with first- and second- place prizes in the festival’s pitch competition. Sponsored by the North American Division and held April 9-11 at the Loma Linda University Church in California, the annual event received 72 entries from young filmmakers.

Matheus Valente, senior film production major, and Jhared Tula, junior film production major, won first and second place, respectively, in the pitch competition, receiving a combined $5,000  to continue developing Pantanal and Sounds of Appalachia. Tula also received a Special Jury Award for Achievement in Editing for The Forgotten Ones.

Sienna Escobar, junior journalism major, and Tula won Best in Festival for Ancestor, which features the intertwined stories of three Ukrainian students and their loved ones. Escobar also won Best Art/Experimental Short for the film.

Alona Zahreba, freshman film production major, received Best Micro Short for Intrusions; Connor Nelson, senior film production major, received Best Narrative Short for Dead on TV; and Noah Sturges, senior film production major, received Best Documentary Short for The Process of Honey. Senior animation majors Evan Eslava and Emma Boughman received a Special Jury Award for Achievement in Screenwriting for Deep Space.

“Our students told stories from the heart, and I believe that’s why they did so well in this year’s competition,” says Nathan DeWild, assistant professor in the School of Visual Art and Design. “Their work had purpose beyond just entertainment.”

Nick Livanos, professor in the School of Visual Art and Design, agrees: “Southern’s students want to be the kind of storytellers that Jesus was. Every nugget within a story is chosen intentionally and carries weight and meaning.”

Emily Livergood, senior art major, and alum Zane Taitano, senior animation major, received Best Animated Short for Something’s Afoot.

“God created us with purpose, intentionality, and love,” Livergood says. “I feel that my art most glorifies God when it humbles me, and when I struggle to find the light in what I am making.”  

For Livanos and Livergood, preserving that intentional, human approach to storytelling is especially important as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly prevalent in media.

“Art is often an overlooked discipline. We, as Christians, should breathe our own breath of life into the work,” Livanos says. “If we don’t do it, will anyone else?”

“Artificial intelligence can never replace the true creative process,” Livergood adds. “I thank God for the talents He has given me and for His beautiful world I can represent through my art.”

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