Footsteps of the Unknown, an Adventist Health International and Loma Linda University film, took home the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film was screened April 23 as part of the Earth Day celebration.

“It’s very flattering,” says Patricia Thio, special projects editor of University Relations, and the filmmaker. “Thank you to everyone who supported the film. I hope that many more people will be inspired by those featured in the documentary.”

The film competed with nearly 250 other short films for the award, including a 2005 Academy Award winner. In addition, it was one of 350 films selected to be showcased at the festival out of 1,500 submissions. Approximately 35,000 people attended the event this year.

Footsteps of the Unknown is a short documentary on the stories surrounding Gimbie Adventist Hospital. In the western highlands of Ethiopia, the beautiful village of Gimbie sits as a crossroad of hope and despair. It is a place where children are often orphaned or abandoned, a place where people strive to live through desperate situations. But despite difficult conditions, they aspire to live life to its fullest. Volunteers at Gimbie Adventist Hospital support the locals’ ambitious nature.

The subjects of the film, Chandra and Charlie Baier, an American couple, initially went to Gimbie right after their honeymoon to help run the hospital for a short time. The plan: three months in Ethiopia, then back to the United States to get “real” jobs. The reality: three years of adventure, new culture and unexpected love.

Joining the Baiers are Sisters Suzy and Maty, compassionate and rugged nuns from Ecuador, and Penny, a charming midwife from London. The film allows the viewer to hop into their off-road vehicles and step onto a path of challenge and hope with those who dedicate their lives to transforming pain and sadness into promise and possibility.

Go to www.adventisthealthinternational.org for more information and to see the film’s trailer.