Every January, many of the world's premier independent filmmakers gather in Park City, Utah, to showcase their work and mingle with film connoisseurs at the Sundance Film Festival. Taylor Professors John and Kathy Bruner, along with students in the Seminar in Independent Film class, relished the chance to attend the 2008 festival.

The Taylor group joined the Windrider Forum, a Christian discussion group that included students from Biola University and Fuller Theological Seminary, in screening films and having discussions with filmmakers.

"Our goals were to be listeners, to praise the filmmakers when possible and to seek God at work in popular culture," Kathy Bruner said.

As part of the Windrider Forum, students also had opportunities to enter discussions with actors and filmmakers, including Michelle Steffes, a 2002 Taylor graduate who showcased her film, "Driftwood," 
for the Windrider Forum.

One filmmaker told the group he was glad to dialogue with the Windrider Forum because he thought its members would ask the questions that really matter. The trip gave the students a chance to 
undo some Christian stereotypes prevalent in the film industry.

"Christians are known for what they are against, not what they are for," senior Katie Todd said.

Junior Jacob Elsts said attending the festival gave the students ideas about how to start changing that assumption about Christians, adding he found movies served as a common ground and "a way to relate 
to everyone."

"Some say that Hollywood is about big films with little ideas, whereas Sundance is about little films with big ideas. We definitely saw that was true," John Bruner said.

-- The Echo News Editor MaKenzie Doepke
and Editor in Chief Chrissie Thompson 
contributed to this article.