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Big Break, Trinity Western University’s annual student film competition, is usually a highlight event for preview weekends. Filmmakers usually present their films to a packed house in the Northwest Auditorium, with critiques from professionals in the industry.

This year, only the filmmakers, a few close friends and the judges were allowed to screen the five films.
“There were two films whose content would have been deemed questionable for a preview audience,” said Scott Werdal, a resident director and co-coordinator of the event. “One film was fairly controversial and a number of Student Life reps felt very strongly that they would have been uncomfortable showing it.”

Controversy surrounded heavy violence and gun usage, and drug use.

After organizers informed the two filmmakers their films would not be shown, director Chris Wyatt decided to withdraw his film – which was based on video game violence and centered on a fake gun – as well. “Knowing that my film had a fair bit of gun use in it and didn’t get pulled, it would have seemed hypocritical for mine to stay in.”

Instead of going ahead with only two films or cancelling the whole event, organizers compromised by keeping it a competition but making it a private screening, complete with critiques and prizes. Both questionable films were allowed at the screening, and Wyatt decided to re-enter his film to the reorganized show.

“It was a legitimately tough decision to make. As an actor myself, I don’t like anything that sounds like censorship,” said Werdal. “This solution is the best of a worst-case scenario.”

“I don’t think it would have been cancelled if it wasn’t a preview weekend,” he added. “We’re going to revisit whether or not we’ll have this event on preview weekends [in the future].”

Byron Tenkink directed the controversial music video Light It Up, a goth rock song saturated with images of cocaine use, murder and suicide. Commenting on the controversy, he said, “I’m kind of glad [the event was changed]. It’s not the kind of thing that was intended for anyone to see.”

The other controversial film, Bad Break by Jamie McHenry and Tasha Reifschneider, was originally cut because of the replica guns used on campus during filming.

Jon Fehr, who directed Unsung Heroes, said, “I’m disappointed we weren’t able to show the film in a larger venue, but I’m glad they got shown at all.”

Wyatt echoed these sentiments: “I’m glad we got to show them to the judges, but it’s a bummer we didn’t get to do the real thing.”