Everything Nac

A film by Armando Silvas Jr., graduate student in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art’s filmmaking program, has been selected to be produced as the 2023 SFA summer feature.

Silvas’ “The Russian at Christmas” is a feature-length action/comedy holiday film about a Russian hitman who tracks down a mall Santa on Christmas Eve. The film is set to be shot throughout the month of June in Nacogdoches in conjunction with SFA’s filmmaking program. Silvas wrote and will direct and edit the film.

A previous Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts Dean’s Circle award winner, Silvas has worked on four feature films and has written and directed more than 10 short films of his own. He’s worked as a camera assistant, camera operator, director of photography and media manager. “I’ve watched other filmmakers, and I’ve worked with and seen them both succeed and fail,” Silvas said. “I’ve learned from their mistakes and their triumphs equally. Now I’m taking the lessons I’ve learned from those experiences and putting them to use.”

The costs of crew and equipment for the summer film are covered by SFA. “These are all things that can drive up the production budget of any feature film,” Silvas said. “With that weight off our shoulders we’re focusing on two important areas: the cast and the art direction.” To cover those added costs in the production of “The Russian at Christmas,” Silvas has created an Indiegogo website to help fund the project.

In “The Russian at Christmas,” Frank, a recently fired mall Santa, is trying to survive Christmas Eve with his friend, Todd, a low-self esteemed man stuck in a loveless relationship. Then, Frank witnesses a murder committed by a Russian hitman. Frank is dealing with the recent loss of his dad who passed away on Christmas. Frank’s dad was a Mall Santa, and Frank wants to keep the tradition going, so he does the same. It turns out Frank isn’t cut out for it, and he gets fired with the reminder that he’ll never be like his dad. To make matters worse, Frank learns that his ex-girlfriend has found someone new and that there are loan sharks that are trying to collect the money that Frank owes, or else. Along the way, Frank and Todd meet several colorful characters, such as some backwoods loan sharks, two goofy police officers, a one-eyed ex-police officer who is fueled by revenge, an overly eccentric mall manager, and of course, The Russian, who has a deadly passion for hating Christmas and even engages in a musical number.

The film includes over-the-top action with absurd humor while keeping the underlying theme throughout that no one should be alone on Christmas. The film is also inspired by films such as “Silent Night, Deadly Night” and “Pineapple Express,” according to Silvas.

Co-producer is film director, screenwriter, editor, producer and SFA alumnus Derek Wayne Johnson, known for his work on “John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs (2017),” “40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic (2020),” and “Stallone: Frank, That Is (2021).”

“I’ve recently had the pleasure of working with Derek on a feature film last year,” Silvas said. “Derek will be returning as an SFA alumnus to help teach and mentor the undergraduate students throughout the duration of the shoot.”

The rest of the crew will be comprised of undergraduate students from the filmmaking program who will work on the film for credit towards their degree. The film program at SFA produces a feature length film every summer, and the students working on the film spend the school year prior learning and building their skillset to work on these feature productions.

For more information about how to help support the summer film project, visit

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-russian-at-christmas-a-holiday-feature-film#/.

For more information about SFA’s filmmaking program, contact the School of Art at (936) 468-4804.

The self-reported overall health and wellness of the student body at Stephen F. Austin State University is largely on par with national averages and better than average in key areas related to drug and alcohol use, according to the results of a recent survey.

The National College Health Assessment survey, which is administered by the American College Health Association, is the gold standard for higher education health assessments, according to Dr. Andrew Dies, SFA’s associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students.

“The NCHA is a nationally recognized research survey that helps institutions collect specific data about our students’ health habits, behaviors and perceptions,” he said. “This data can help inform us on the current state of our students’ health and on the implementation of or changes to programs and services.”

The survey asks about nutrition, health care utilization, impediments to academic performance, tobacco and alcohol use, and mental health and well-being, among other topics.

Alcohol and drug use rates among SFA students fell below national averages, with SFA’s rate for students who claimed to have consumed alcohol in the last three months falling 11% lower than national figures. Likewise, cannabis use among SFA students within the past three months was nearly 6% lower than national averages. While positive overall, the survey found a higher prevalence of SFA students who drove within six hours of using cannabis.

“This was a surprising result for me,” Dies said. “The national data set was 30.8% and ours was 48.6%. This indicates some necessary education on the effects of marijuana and how it can impair an individual.”

Many areas where SFA’s numbers negatively diverged more than 5% from the national average were related to mental or emotional health. The pandemic is not solely responsible for the gap, Dies said, but COVID-19 exacerbated mental health issues.

“The numbers in reference to stress and anxiety were the least surprising,” Dies said. “We know our students experience this, as do students across the nation. The Dean of Students Office works with our students who are experiencing these issues to help them identify resources and continue in their success. These data underscore how important student wellness and well-being initiatives are at SFA.”

Nearly 50% of respondents indicated that they felt students’ health and well-being is a priority at SFA, which is almost 5% more than the national average. However, 11.5% more SFA respondents self-reported feelings of anxiety and 13.8% more reported feelings of depression than national averages.

On-campus initiatives have been in development to address known issues within the student body over the past few years. In 2022, SFA employees in the Division of Student Affairs responded to a growing pandemic-related spike in mental health issues by creating the Lumberjack Wellness Network. This holistic take on health services combined and streamlined all resources available to students in one location.

The Health and Wellness Hub was also created last year to centralize available health-related services into one building.

Within the past year, they also expanded access to counseling by growing their Counseling Services staff and by partnering with TogetherAll, which provides virtual peer-to-peer mental health and well-being support.

“Results of this study provide an opportunity for SFA to focus on populations in need to help them identify the resources, both internal to themselves and within the institution, that can help,” Dies said. “Counseling Services continues to identify different group options for students to join so they can realize they may not be alone.”

Additionally, to address the survey’s findings and develop next steps, the Dean of Students Office formed a committee comprising staff members from across campus. The group has met multiple times since the results were released in the fall. They identified areas where SFA diverged most from national figures and discussed both existing services and potential new educational and outreach programs.

“This isn’t something that could or should happen overnight,” Dies said. “Planning has already begun for certain areas under our Student Wellness umbrella, and we will start to see deployment of these in fall 2023. Other areas will take more time. We need to know what resources will be available as we become part of The University of Texas System so we may take advantage of them effectively and efficiently.”

This first survey’s data is just a starting point — Dies said he hopes to conduct the same survey every two years so that administrators can eventually create programs and initiatives based on year-over-year comparative analyses.

By Christine Broussard, assistant director for strategic communications at Stephen F. Austin State University

The Symphony Orchestra at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” when the ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The program pays homage to America as its connecting feature, according to Dr. Gregory Grabowski, director of orchestral activities at SFA and the orchestra’s director.

“Two of the three pieces are composed by the American composer Aaron Copland, who is sometimes called the ‘Dean of American Composers,'” Grabowski explained.

Copland’s “Quiet City” will feature music faculty members Dr. Jacob Walburn on trumpet and Dr. Pablo Moreno on English horn. The orchestra’s performance of Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” is the original orchestration of the suite from the ballet with the same name.

“It’s an incredibly beautiful and challenging work,” Grabowski said. “This ensemble features select members of the SFASO.”

The main feature of the program is Czech composer Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9.

“Dvořák was invited to the U.S. and commissioned to compose an American-sounding symphony,” Grabowski said. “The result was his Symphony No. 9, subtitled ‘From the New World.’ In an attempt to find an American sound, he drew heavily from Native American and African American spirituals. The resulting symphony has become one of Dvořák’s most famous pieces.”

Concert tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.