*“Sun Moon,” an Affirm Originals Movie debuted exclusively on Pure Flix. The film centers around engaging themes of family, faith, and transformation as the main character Kelsey, played by MacKenzie Mauzy, decides to make a life-altering decision and signs up to become a teacher in Taiwan; there, she encounters how God uses her heartbreak for a greater purpose.
“My character, Kelsey, is trying to figure out what’s left of her life after her fiance’ ends their relationship. Everything has fallen apart for her, and she’s hurt and confused,” said actress MacKenzie Mauzy. “I think it’s a really relatable story where we feel like we’re at the bottom but those moments shape our perspective as we move forward and discover opportunities that might have never existed before.”
The film is Sydney Tooley‘s screenwriting and directorial debut, co-written by Susan Isaacs. The story takes place in Taiwan and is Tooley’s love letter to the country where she discovered joy and purpose during a difficult period. Tooley taught English in Taiwan after college and drew inspiration for the script from her experiences.
“Sun Moon is a story about hope during the dark times where God is asking us to step out in faith and do intimidating things,” said writer and director Sydney Tooley. “It reminds me of the phrase ‘Jesus take the wheel.’ I don’t know where they think they’re going but sometimes you find yourself off-roading in the jungle without a map. In the movie, Kelsey has to decide if she’ll follow the map that God has given her. She learns that having the faith to follow God as the mapmaker isn’t always the easiest choice but ultimately He’ll lead you back to the things that are most important.”
EURweb had the opportunity to speak with Sydney Tooley to gain a deeper perspective on her creative process, faith, and Taiwanese culture.
EURweb: The movie is delightful and a unique story for many viewers of faith-based entertainment. Can you talk about what inspired you to tell this particular story?
Sydney Tooley: This film is largely autobiographical, [but] not completely. I lived in Taiwan between 2016 and 2017; my parents are still missionaries. Many classroom scenes are word for word with engagements, like with me and the students. We even have some of my original students in the scenes. So that was really fun. We got to shoot with some of them. The two sisters are based on my sister and me, and the mother is based on an aunt who passed away while I was in Taiwan, and it became my way of closure of being able to say goodbye when I wasn’t able to in real life. The character of Horace, our love interest, was also a real person, [but] there was no love interest, and I was not left at the altar. I know, everybody wants to know. I’m not heartbroken. But Horace was a teacher who unfortunately passed away a year after I completed my time there, but he was a huge ally with the kids. We couldn’t speak English to each other at all. But it was cool being able to dedicate the movie to that teacher, and we had some his students involved, who helped coach or talk with Justin Chien, who portrayed that person and a lot of those things where I just drew from life, and I started writing it, and you’re like, ‘do people want to watch me?’ I don’t know, but here we are with a film now.
EURweb: What did your kids think about being in a movie with you?
Tooley: That was super cool. When I went out there, I finished my undergrad and decided to quit film and be a missionary, which I’d always wanted to do. My family’s background is in missions and teaching, so I grew up hearing it all the time. So I went out and realized, while I was out there, that I started teaching English using film, or I would teach them how to make movies. I was like, well, I should go back and continue to make movies. Being able to see those kids who had been young the last time I had seen them, and in the movie, they’re a bit older at this point, for them to be able to be part of this thing [since] we were one of the first if not the first American film to make a movie about Taiwan, for Taiwan. They got to be part of this bigger thing; there are cameras and lights, and it’s very cool for them. But also, they got to tell their own stories and see their friends’ stories on screen and, as I said, be an integral part of making the film because they did coach and talk with Justin a lot about his character to the point where he did it so well that they would start crying in scenes. I would pause the set and say, ‘You guys, okay, do we need to take a break? They’re like, No, we have to finish it for him.’ It makes you feel like you’re part of this much bigger project, and it becomes our project.
EURweb: In the film’s beginning, the preacher says, ‘God uses our hurts and our mistakes.’ How has God used those elements in your life?
Tooley: What I wanted to get with the film on what I’ve found recently to be true is that her faith journey parallels my own. Other ways, but it’s one of avoidance, which I think that a lot of people can relate to because our journeys have these, you know, these ups and downs that we take while we’re trying to figure out what we believe and how to have faith and how to trust. So, for me, the movie was huge; I’ve been doing, working, and living this since 2016. So from 2016 to 2023, it’s a long haul of living that, and I think that through that time, you know, there’s a lot of trusts, and blind, almost childish faith is needed to, to do this kind of thing because it’s so huge when you start doing it. Also, putting some of those pains, hurts, and past things on the screen and be vulnerable enough with your audience to let them see that part of you. It was tremendously difficult to direct the scenes with the dying mother and, you know, the sisters, and you know, you’re on set trying to show people these real things that happened. I like to think of it as childish faith to go through everything.
EURweb: When did you decide to become a writer-director?
Tooley: I was destined to be a director of some kind because I was a bossy child, you know, I was the oldest, so I was constantly making my siblings put on little plays. I made my first movie when I was 10 with a VHS tape recorder bigger than me and a new boombox one and made them all dress up and make a movie, which I need to go find. My parents have been a huge support, but my father called it early. I took a directing theater class; I shouldn’t have been able to get it because I didn’t have any prereqs; I ended up excelling, getting a degree, and then got into film school, and ending my time in film school feeling like I wasn’t a filmmaker, which led me into Taiwan. Then coming out of Taiwan, I accidentally went to grad school and got my MFA in directing and screenwriting, which I found out later; I thought was God; I guess it is God. But it was my mother who signed me up for grad school. I’ve tried to quit film several times, and God always is like, ‘No, you’re going to make movies,’ which is such a wild career path to have.
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EURweb: You spoke about some of the language challenges, but were there any other challenges you incurred during the filming?
Tooley: Every film project is difficult. So, it’s really hard for anybody who can complete a feature good for you. Being overseas with a language barrier was difficult, but not as difficult as people would think. But still difficult. But we did have challenges; some of our main cast got sick at 5 am on a day we had to shoot, and we’d have to change gears, or it would rain on certain days. There were some language barrier issues, but we were mostly able to overcome those, the crew over there was just fantastic. All of our crews meshed together and became a good community. The biggest challenges were COVID challenges. We had 15 days of quarantine when we were there. I had only those 15 days to do all of the prep work I needed to do with a team I had never met in Taiwan, then walk out of there, and five days later, we’re shooting. You’re trying to keep everything going because we had a hard out from Taiwan at the time. So the day after wrapping the whole shoot, they kicked me out of the country. So we didn’t have time for anything to mess up.
EURweb: How long did it take you to shoot principal photography?
Tooley: We shot one week in Nashville, and then Taiwan’s country shut down right after that. Then we had about seven to nine months that we were sitting, and you’re not sure if you’re going anywhere. We quarantined for two weeks and then shot for three and a half weeks. So overall, we shot the whole movie for about four and a half weeks.
EURweb: What is something interesting that you learned about the Tawainese culture or the country itself?
Tooley: I wanted to make this movie very authentic to them. We had a lot of collaborators over in Taiwan, and we would have read through the script and make sure everything was portrayed in a way that they felt comfortable and that I felt comfortable with portraying it, and that you can see played out between her and the students, and then her and Horace. We had to bring back that idea of how Taiwanese people date. Or how do they show affection? In America, we’re more dramatic, and they’re a bit more reserved, and so we had to figure out how that balance work. Also, film crews are different in other countries; we all work the same way. But it can get complicated when you’re talking about Western thought versus Eastern thought.
[If I told people to get something out of the shot] people are cool; it’s normal to move fast and to be direct about things. I told one boom operator to get the broom out of here, I don’t need it, and later, she came up to me, and she’s like, ‘I’m so sorry, I messed up the shot.’ I’m like, ‘You’re totally fine. I don’t even remember.’ It was fun working within that culture, but also interpersonally learning how to communicate to make sure that they didn’t feel like they had failed because they were brilliant. But it’s a way of speaking that we have that they don’t necessarily have.
EURweb: I’m sure you’ve seen the news about the growing conflict between China and Taiwan and the possible impending war. What words of encouragement can you offer believers that are in Taiwan, as well as their American counterparts?
Tooley: My parents still live out there as missionaries and are aware of what’s happening and watching from both sides. I’m constantly checking in. It’s a lot more hyped up on our side. The people, they’re still pretty calm about everything. They’re getting ready. But it’s a similar thing that happens with Russia and Ukraine. On the first day of filming, Russia attacked Ukraine, which was intense because now you feel like if Russia wins, then China’s going to come over here while we’re filming. It made the filming more intense because now you’re thinking we might be the last people to shoot as this country is now. We don’t know what will happen, and everybody is sitting back and holding their breath to see what the future will be; we’re all just waiting. Keep Taiwan in your prayers right now.
EURweb: The story is very layered; what central theme do you want viewers to take away from this film?
Tooley: First of all, it’s my love letter to Taiwan; it’s how I can give back to a culture that, when I walked out of there realized I would never have experienced. I was so shocked by the thought that there was a place I loved; my heart is there, and I wanted to give back. When people watch it, I hope they get that sense of an authentic cultural experience, and maybe a piece of them falls in love with it as much as I love it; hopefully, we’ve conveyed that. Spiritually, I like people to take away the idea that your faith journey or walk with God is different, whether you’re in the trenches where you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I trust you right now.’ Or you’re at the peak, where you’re like, God, it’s great. He’s doing everything he’s here with me; it’s good. Wherever you are in that walk, God’s unconventional. He does whatever he does, and you’ve taken this leap of faith to go on this journey. No matter where you are on that journey, remember that, eventually, things will work. Maybe not how you expect or want them to, but it works out.
Visit here to stream “Sun Moon” exclusively on Pure Flix.
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