It’s been incredibly validating and wildly surreal to watch our film The Rebel Reef: seeds of hope continue to do so well on its festival run.

Validating, because throughout the whole process of creating this film – from the first draft of the script to the final edit – I wanted to make sure this story would hold its weight and pull at the heart strings of not just divers and ocean enthusiasts like me, but for anyone who had the chance to see it. The feedback we have received from festivals and from viewers has been absolutely incredible.

As an emerging filmmaker still in graduate school, I had my fair share of moments of imposter syndrome and wondered if I knew enough to bring the story together in a way that would translate properly on the big screen. There were so many days that my burnout wanted to get the best of me, and I had to self-talk my way through not giving up. I came to realize it was not my job alone to carry the story or the team, but it was our collective strengths as a team that allowed us to deliver such a beautifully crafted story. Not one of us singularly could have done it alone, and that is why I love being a filmmaker: because collectively our artistic strengths created a unique story about the importance of hope and resilience against all odds.

This is also why seeing our film do so well feels so surreal. Tiff, our Executive Producer and I spent hundreds of hours with our incredible editor Andrés in post-production; re-writing, re-editing and moving scenes because we wanted to make sure that the narrative of resiliency and hope in the midst of pain and despair pulled our viewers through till the end. To see it received so well in festivals has been more than I ever could have imagined.

We are a group of creatives, storytellers, divers, and coral nerds, who saw a small-town story that deserved its place on the international stage, and I am grateful I got to be a part of bringing Christian and Tela’s story to the world.

-Brynne Rardin, Director