Saltwater Baptism
(2017)
What do you do when your relationship conflicts with your religion?
“Saltwater Baptism,” explores that question with disarming, understated warmth. Directed by Jared Callahan and Russell Sheaffer, the short film follows two young, gay men through graduation week at an evangelical college in San Diego, as they navigate the tension among religion, family and sexual orientation.
Saltwater Baptism is available to stream for free via the New York Times OpDocs. Watch it now
About the Directors
Saltwater Baptism is co-directed by Jared Callahan and Russell Sheaffer.
Jared Callahan serves as a Filmmaker in Residence for the Atlanta Film Society. He worked as First Assistant Director on “Short Term 12” (2009), which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Short Filmmaking, and the feature “I Am Not A Hipster” (2012). Jared’s feature directorial debut, “Janey Makes a Play,” was released theatrically and on VOD in June 2016. His previous short film, “American Moderate,” which engaged an undecided voter during the 2016 presidential election, was released in July 2017 through the PBS Reel South program. To see more of Jared’s work, check out his website.
One of Variety magazine’s “110 Students to Watch,” Russell Sheaffer is a documentary and experimental filmmaker with a Ph.D. from Indiana University. In addition to his own experimental work, he has worked as a producer for documentary and fiction films, including Josephine Decker’s “Thou Wast Mild and Lovely,” which premiered at Berlinale in 2014, and the forthcoming “Jules of Light and Dark.
