Bonhoeffer Wins House History Film Competition
The Houses took a variety of creative directions with their projects, from alumni documentaries to a send-up of Oscar-favorite "La La Land."
Over the last few months, the King’s student body was hard at work for the House History Competition, the latest for this year’s House Cup. For the competition, each House created a short film between seven and ten minutes long that highlighted their legacy over the 17 years King’s has been in Manhattan.
The competition culminated on Thursday night when students filled a theater at Regal Cinemas at Union Square to screen all ten films.
The Houses took a variety of creative directions with their projects, from alumni documentaries to a send-up of Oscar-favorite La La Land. At the end, Director of Student Life Nick Swedick announced the winner, the House of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer’s film was a staging of a weekly House gathering at the home of Dr. Stephen Salyers, the House’s faculty advisor. Salyers’s home in Astoria, Queens features a long backyard—a rare treat in New York City—and an abundance of seating, making it an ideal spot for conversation.
The story revolves around the House’s reputation for close community.
“So much of the House system is about shaping individuals into who they’re going to be, but this can’t happen if you don’t first love them for who they are, and that’s what Bonhoeffer is all about,” said director Jacob Wilson ’17, who served as House president for the 2015–2016 school year.
The narrative unfolds as members tell each other about their legacy and notable alumni with folk legend-type fervor. The film employed a “one-shot” technique, where it appears to be recorded in one continuous take by a single camera with no breaks to other scenes or locations.
“I wanted the film to show what it’s like to actually be in the House of Bonhoeffer, to put the viewer straight into the memories, the action, and the emotion,” Wilson said.
The film was met with unanimous acclaim from the judges, coming only 0.5 points shy of a perfect score.
“Bonhoeffer’s film seemed especially well thought out, fluidly shot, and both funny and meaningful,” said Alissa Wilkinson, who teaches cultural criticism at King’s and reviews films for Vox.
Also leading the Bonhoeffer production were script writer Joseph Cambonga ’17, director of photography Sungjun Kim ’18, and composer Walker Smith (’18).
Rounding out the top three in the film competition, the House of Corrie ten Boom and the House of Winston Churchill took second and third place, respectively.
Watch the House of Bonhoeffer’s winning film below.