THE Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Jamaica successfully staged its first film festival and symposium on May 10, 2025, attracting 21 entries from 61 applications that encouraged Communication Director Elder Nigel Coke to emphasise the need for the church to engage in this area of ministry.

“This festival is not about theatre and movies or exciting amusement — it’s about creatively presenting God’s truth to glorify Him,” Coke explained in his inaugural address and overview of the festival.

“It’s the church, through its creative disciples, offering another way to reach people’s hearts. It aims to debunk some of the myths and misunderstandings of the
Bible and our church doctrines, making them more transparent and acceptable,” he added.

“Christian short films can showcase diverse perspectives and experiences, allowing creative disciples to share their faith and values with a broader audience, especially young people,” argued Coke.

The festival, themed ‘Recapturing the Spirit of Mission’, was held at the Seventh-day Adventist Conference Centre in Montego Bay.

The entries covered three categories — Music & Animation, Short Films & Mobile Films, and Public Service Announcements and Commercials.

Shortwood Adventist Church’s Dead Yard was the overall and category winner of the short films and mobile films category, and received a cash award of $100,000, a trophy, and a gift package from the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).

Shortwood Adventist Church also won the Public Service Announcements and Commercials category with its entry The Ultimate Rest – God’s Way. At the same time, Glory by Nevard Sanderson took the Music and Animation segment.

The category winners each received a cash prize of $50,000, a trophy, and a gift package from the JSE.

There were two honourable mentions: Time Change — the Jamaica silent film by Raymore Williams, and Sting by Bendon SDA Church. They received a certificate and a tech gadget courtesy of Hope Channel Inter-America.

“As a church we are increasingly promoting the use of innovative tools to preach about Jesus, and this event was a clear example of how we can unite creativity and technology with evangelism,” said Abel Marquez, communication director of the SDA Inter-America Division.

Marquez, who is also executive director of Hope Channel Inter-America, believes that the festival is a seed planted that will bear fruit very soon.

“We hope this will be the first of many gatherings where new creative disciples emerge in the country, and that we may share the resulting productions across other parts of the Inter-American Division territory,” Marquez added.

Dr Lizbeth Elejalde, chief adjudicator of the festival, described it as an inspiring celebration of creativity and purpose. “From my perspective, the film festival was a resounding success, characterised by the outstanding participation, talent, and enthusiasm of young film-makers. Their commitment to sharing a vision of hope through powerful audiovisual storytelling left a lasting impression. The energy, innovation, and heartfelt messages brought to life on screen remind us that this generation is not only ready to lead — they’re ready to inspire. With such strong engagement we are already anticipating even greater participation in future editions. Thank you to all who made this event possible. The story is just beginning,” Dr Elejalde said.

Coke shared that the plan is to make the festival an annual activity, to maintain the momentum.

“We cannot stop here and we cannot skip next year, lest we lose the momentum built this year. This alternative tool for evangelism is far too important at this time. The world is waiting to understand the message of salvation better, creatively and uniquely put together on short films which would allow them to better understand God’s love,” Coke said.

He also challenged the participants to continue to use their God-given talents and creative skills outside of the festival to be beacons of hope to the hopeless.

Former general managers of Northern Caribbean University Media Group, Everett Wiles (left) and Arnold Kelly display their citations for outstanding contributions to leadership and media in Jamaica, presented at the inaugural film festival and symposium staged by the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Jamaica on May 10, 2025.