Sum Function Wins Audience Choice Award in San Diego
Every stop on the Sum Function festival circuit has brought something special. But last week in San Diego? Last week was different in the best possible way.
Sum Function returned to Southern California for the 25th San Diego International Film Festival on October 15th and 16th, with two screenings that turned into an unforgettable few days of reunions, new connections, and some pretty incredible memories.
And just this morning, we got some exciting news…
Sum Function won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary!
The award wasn't announced during Saturday's ceremony because the festival still had more votes to tally, so we headed home not knowing if an award was coming our way.
Where It All Began
For director and Marine Corps veteran Noah Currier, Southern California holds a lot of history. He attended boot camp at MCRD San Diego, served with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Pendleton, was injured in a car accident on base just three days after returning from a deployment in Iraq, and spent many long and hard months in the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) unit of the La Jolla VA after becoming a quadriplegic at the age of just 21.
Years later, we returned to Camp Pendleton to film part of Sum Function. And now, we were back again to share the finished documentary with audiences just down the coast.
And we had quite a few VIPs at this festival!
In the audience were Noah's former doctor (shoutout to Dr. Amy Magnusson!) and nurses from his time at the La Jolla VA, people who were a big part of his life during an incredibly difficult chapter more than two decades ago.
Also in attendance was a group of newly injured veterans from the VA's SCI unit, along with warriors, staff, and residents from Warrior Foundation Freedom Station. For those still early in their recovery, the film offered a look at veterans who had faced devastating injuries and gone on to rebuild their lives, finding purpose, friendship, and community through wheelchair rugby.
And then there were the Marines! So many Marines…
A group of young men from 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, the very unit Noah served with during his time in the Marine Corps, came out to watch. Seeing the next generation of 1st LAR Marines in the theater added another layer to an already meaningful homecoming.
A Full-Circle Moment
Before Friday's screening, members of the Oscar Mike Militia made a particularly meaningful stop at the La Jolla VA to visit newly injured veterans in the Spinal Cord Injury unit.
The hospital staff had organized a reception, complete with a handmade "Congratulations Noah!" sign, a showing of the Sum Function trailer for patients and staff, and an opportunity to reconnect with some of the incredible doctors and nurses who helped save Noah's life more than two decades ago.
It was a whirlwind of emotions, but one moment stood out above the rest.
For the first time since 2003, Noah rolled back into the hospital room where he'd spent so many months recovering from his injury. In the very same bed he'd once occupied was a young man now facing his own recovery. The two had a chance to talk, their injuries more than two decades apart, but their lives connected in a way few people can fully understand.
And when Noah looked up, he noticed something.
The butterflies on the ceiling were still there.
The same butterflies he'd spent months staring at while lying in that hospital bed, trying to make sense of what his life would look like after his injury.
Twenty-three years later, he was back in that room, not as a patient, but as the director of an award-winning documentary about veterans finding their way forward after life-changing injuries.
It's hard to imagine a more full-circle moment than that.
Two Days, Two Audiences
The screenings also brought out some familiar faces from the sports world.
On Thursday, we were joined by former U.S. Men's National Soccer Team player Jonathan Bornstein, and on Friday, former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia came out to support the film.
Between the screenings, the reunions, the Marines, the conversations at the VA, and everything that happened in that hospital room, San Diego reminded us exactly why we made this film.
Sum Function follows a wheelchair rugby team, but the story has never been just about the sport. It's about what happens after life changes in ways you never imagined, and the people who help you find a new way forward.
We left San Diego with a lot to be grateful for: the people who showed up to watch, the conversations that followed, and the opportunity to bring this story back to a place so closely connected to Noah's life and the mission behind the Oscar Mike Foundation.
Learning a few days later that Sum Function earned the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary is icing on an already pretty delicious cake.
We’ve only been at this film festival thing since March, but we’ve learned that audience-voted awards are our favorite because they mean that people who watched the film connected with the story enough to cast their votes for us. Every win improves our chances of being picked up for distribution so that more people can see this film and be impacted by it.
To everyone who joined us in La Jolla, participated in the Q&As, shared their own experiences, or helped make these screenings possible, thank you.
And to the San Diego International Film Festival, thank you for an unforgettable experience and another incredible honor.
San Diego, we miss you already!
