"The Nightmare"

Master’s student's graduate film project accepted to multiple film festivals

 

Julio Muñoz ’21, alongside a crew and cast of over 50 people, created and directed a short film called “The Nightmare.” The film was Muñoz’s capstone project for his master’s of Cinema, Religion and Worldview from Walla Walla University. “The Nightmare” has been accepted into two film festivals, the International Social Change Film Festival (ChangeFest) and the Bronx Social Justice Film Festival. Both festivals highlight films that address issues of social justice and real-world change.

The film details the story of Josue, a LatinX teenager who has a recurring nightmare where a mysterious evil man threatens to hurt him if he doesn’t “go home.” In the real world, he deals with racism and anti-immigration sentiment from everyone he meets. He escapes his frustrations by drawing a comic where a young LatinX superhero defeats an evil ice villain. The line between dreaming and waking blurs and Josue begins to see the evil man from his dreams in the daytime. 

Regarding the message of the film, Rachel Schribner, film producer and WWU graduate, said, “Our purpose in making a film like “The Nightmare” was to inspire conversations that lead to change, and we're delighted that our work can be screened alongside other films with a similar goal.”  

Their master’s classes and the discussions they raised led Schriber and Muñoz to create the film. “The more intellectual classes where we learned to ask hard questions got us thinking (and even arguing sometimes) about concepts that Julio wrote into the script, and the more hands-on classes helped us gain and polish skills we used on set. It's the experiences we had journeying through the program together that helped make us stronger storytellers.”

The film will be streamed for ChangeFest until November 7, and the Bronx Social Justice Film Festival ran from October 22-24. 

 

Posted October 26, 2021

 

camera and chalkboard sitting on the ground
Both festivals "The Nightmare" has been accepted into highlight films that address issues of social justice and real-world change.
group of people in dim lighting looking excitedly at the camera
Over 50 cast and crew members worked together to create the film.