Human trafficking awareness film ‘The Field’ premieres at Roserburg Cinemas

Dozens of people filled a theater at the Roseburg Cinema on Thursday night to see the premiere of the film, “The Field,” from Foursquare Film and Media, the media branch of Winston-based Evangelical Protestant church Foursquare Gospel Center.

The film follows a police officer named Tony who, after his daughter goes missing, struggles to work on cases involving victims of human trafficking.

Foursquare Film and Media partnered with the Douglas County Human Trafficking Task force to set up the premiere, which will host another showing Sunday. Tickets for the next event have already sold out.

The film's producer, Jerry Smart, said they hope to add more screening dates in the near future, and director, Dave Twitchell, hopes to screen the film in his hometown of Grants Pass.

The role of Tony was played by Craig Kinney, a pastor at Wellspring Bible Fellowship, a Roseburg-based Evangelical Protestant church and member of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office for 24 years where he currently serves as the chief medical examiner.

“I'm excited for people to see the message,” Kinney said. “I believe the film has a good message both with struggling with your faith, and with the nation's problem with human trafficking.”

Twitchell drove from his home in Grants Pass to attend the premiere.

“Today we get to show that we've got a good independent film company that does Christian films, that are good,” Twitchell said. “Originally Christian films always seemed to be lackluster, or they didn't do a good job. What we'd like to show is that technology has changed and anybody can be a filmmaker.”

Many of the cast and crew attended the premiere, excited to see the film for the first time, as production had taken nearly five years due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing delays.

“When I was younger, I wanted to be a film director or an actor,” said Travis Carroll, a 24-year-old from Roseburg who played a role in the film. “When we heard about this, my mom said, ‘Here's your chance.'”

Following the screening, a Q&A was held with Smart and the head of the Douglas County Human Trafficking Task Force, Marion Pearson.

“I hope they take away a sense of community,” Pearson said. “I hope they have a desire to make a difference within our community and I hope they take away some really good information on what trafficking looks like and how it works in our community.”

Pearson said that since 2015, 77 human trafficking survivors have been identified in Douglas County.

Will Geschke is a multimedia reporter for The News-Review. He can be reached at [email protected].