We caught up with the creators of the film The Oath of Desormeau following its premiere at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

A Lifetime of Childlike Faith: HeuMoore Productions presents an inspiring documentary of the life and work of Leonard Knight — the simple man behind Salvation Mountain who has captured the interest of National Geographic, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and the Discovery Channel.

This thirty-minute documentary leaves you inspired by the way this lovable 75-year-old man has faithfully lived out his faith for the past twenty-three years.

Wilder Cave: Why explore caves? Caves are deep. Caves are dark. They are wet. They are muddy. We joined a team of cavers exploring an extreme environment. When they encountered trouble they weren’t expecting and had to search for a different way out we learned why extreme sports require extreme teamwork. Bravo, to the creators of Wilder Cave.

Richard Ramsey, director of The Oath of Desormeau, answers questions.

From Aletheia Stage & Film Co., creators of Washington’s Cross — overwhelmingly voted the Audience Choice Award in the very first San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival — comes The Oath of Desormeau, a sweeping, 55-minute drama set in early 19th century France.

We expect the film to be popular among judges and attendees alike, combining visually-rich cinematography with a strong story, cast and score.

From the synopsis on The Oath of Desormeau’s website:

Nimes, France (1815) — Alain Desormeau and his wife Carine are among the many Bonapartists murdered in the “Massacres of the South.”* Fearing that his children, Julien and Helene, will suffer the same fate or be forced into a life of destitution, Alain implores Arnaud Rousseau, a wealthy landowner and father, to protect his children. Arnaud agrees and, as a symbol of their covenant, accepts Carine’s ring shortly before Alain dies.

Nimes, France (1825) — Arnaud Rousseau dies, secretly leaving a ring to his servant, Julien Desormeau. With the ring comes the promise that Julien will protect Rousseau’s family and fulfill the request stated in his will. Upon reading Rousseau’s will, his children learn that a vast amount of the estate is to pass to the eldest daughter, Claire Rousseau. The father’s will also betroths Claire to the unnamed man who holds the ring. Julien faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his attempts to keep his word as the evil Jacques Renard stops at nothing, even murder, to steal Claire, conquer her father’s land, and destroy the children of Alain Desormeau.

Surgeons onboard the Anastasis on the coast of Liberia, saving lives.

Acts of Mercy: This heartbreaking/heartwarming film documents the work of the Mercy Ship, the Anastasis, in West Africa, where the staff and crew of the 522-foot floating hospital treat victims of gross deformities. The documentary contains many disturbing images, but the beauty of the hope and love given to these lives overwhelms them all. May we not forget this great work being done in Africa.

In this tightly-packed room, Geoff Botkin is delivering a session on How to Analyze a Hollywood Movie. In this lecture Mr. Botkin is taking his listeners through the film Remember the Titans, modeling how he watches movies with his children.

Mr. Botkin controls the remote and will pause the film frequently in order to point out the good and bad aspects of the directing, acting, music, and worldview or to explain historical or social context to the audience.

Throughout the session Mr. Botkin would point out dialogue that communicated the personality and moral fiber of the characters and identify the film techniques (scoring, acting, cinematography, etc.) that made the film effective.

“Look at this little cut-away to our little female star,” he exclaims, pausing the film, “Notice how she communicates without any words her jealousy for her father and the tension of the scene.”

Later in the film: “Look at how the camera pushes in to the neighbor’s window and then cuts to the neighbor’s point of view from inside. That is good filmmaking.”

After a character makes a speech: “Notice how the music sets the mood for the speech. It is very emotionally effective. However, 40% of what he said was right, but the other 60% was wrong.”

The audience leaves with the impression that it is not just swearing and nudity that makes a film unclean. However, a wise and godly father, who controls the remote, can use film to equip and lead his family — to identify and refute dangerous worldviews, to praise godly character and rebuke ungodly character, and to train his children to identify excellent storytelling and filmmaking.

Mr. Duggar introduces his wife and 16 children to festival attendees.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar share their incredible life story.

Some of the Duggar children, waiting backstage.

The entire Duggar family sings for the festival attendees.

Several of the younger children play the violin for the crowd.

Cori Sampley, director of the short film, Dear Mama, along with her little brother, Reed, who stars in the film.

Dear Mama: A touching short film about a little boy who has been trying to tell his mother something very important all day. No matter what time it is, Mama is busy doing all sorts of necessary and fun things for him, so he can’t find the right time to tell her. When bedtime comes, Mama tucks him in and kisses him goodnight. Then he finally gets a chance to tell her his very important message.

To Remain a Child: Why is our faith lost with our youth? A teenager faces the realities of growing older and wrestles with letting go of his childhood. He searches for answers to the questions that arise with becoming an adult. Though his body has changed, he realizes that he can, and must, preserve his boyhood innocence and purity. He can remain child, in the eyes of God, through a childlike faith.

9-year-old writer and director Katie Collins answers questions while her mother, Kristi, looks on.

A well-executed stop-motion movie by brothers Joseph and Judah Frank.

The Neighbor: This was a well-executed stop-motion LEGO video about a Christian husband and wife who share the gospel with their neighbor. We appreciated the use of Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

Unexpected News: When Emily has to move away, her friend Nancy tells her about heaven and gives Emily her Bible. A few months later, she receives her Bible back — in a Vision Forum box! — but at first, she doesn’t know why. We were very impressed by the scale of this filmmaking debut for 9-year-old Katie.

Katie Collins is the 9-year-old writer and director of the short film Unexpected News, which is playing in the first morning slot.