Local Films Featured at the Film Festival

Photo from “Broke: The Santa Barbara Oil Pipeline Spill of 2015”

Several films from Santa Barbara filmmakers are being featured this week at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. While there are a lot of amazing films being shown this week, here are those set in our hometown and those made by our locals.

Broke: The Santa Barbara Oil Pipeline Spill of 2015

Every 2 1/2 days in the US, a significant oil spill fouls the environment. BROKE documents a break in Plains All-American’s pipeline #901 in May 2015. That spill sent 140,000 gallons of crude oil onto the Gaviota coast and into the ocean. Crude oil tumbled in the surf, sent toxic fumes into the air, and killed sea life as the Coast Guard mobilized to respond.

The film highlights the reaction of citizens who came together in protest marches and healing ceremonies, rescued birds and marine mammals, cleaned the oil off the beaches, and demanded more stringent spill prevention and response. The community’s actions stands in stark contrast to the insensitivity of the oil industry. Plains All-American Pipeline, Ltd. still faces both criminal and civil lawsuits. 

Directed and Written by Gail Osherenko 
56 mins

Film Showings: Sunday (Feb 4) at the Lobero Theatre at 7:00 p.m. & Monday (Feb 5) at Metro 4 at 11:40 a.m.

Living in the Future’s Past

Jeff Bridges, alongside prominent scientists and authors, weaves evolution, emergence, entropy, dark ecology, and what some are calling the end of nature, into a story that helps us understand our place among the species of Earth’s household. The film upends our way of thinking and provides original insights into our subconscious motivations and unintended consequences. It examines what to do about our fossil slaves and how our fundamental animal nature influences our future as humankind. 

“Living in the Future’s Past is an invitation to everyone to learn about themes that are often overlooked in our cultural dialogue, but are necessary keys to the future that we desire for our children. Living in the Future’s Past is a metaphor for tuning in to what is already here.” – Jeff Bridges

Directed by Susan Kucera 
Starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Hood, Leonard Mlodinow 
Produced by Jeff Bridges, James Swift 
83 mins

Film Showings: Monday (Feb 5) at the Lobero Theatre at 2:00 p.m.

Nelson Algren Live

One of the most neglected American writers and also one of the best loved, novelist Nelson Algren wrote about the dark underbelly of post-war America before it was ever fashionable to do so. He wrote about Chicago, his Chicago, the city, the corruption, the crime and the characters lost among its neon wilderness. Best known for the novel The Man with the Golden Arm, which later became a film starring Frank Sinatra, Algren was a bard of the down-and-outer, boldly depicting the life of the city’s drunks, pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, corrupt politicians, hoodlums and prize fighters. But despite his incredible body of work, much of Algren’s writing has yet to be discovered by new generations. On what would have been his 100th birthday, a group of writers and actors gathered at the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater in Algren’s hometown of Chicago to premiere… NELSON ALGREN LIVE –a celebration of Algren’s life and work in his own words. 

Directed by Oscar Bucher 
Written by Barry Gifford, Dan Simon, Nelson Algren, H.E.F. Donohue 
Starring Willem Dafoe, Barry Gifford, Dan Simon, Russell Banks, Don Delillo,Rick Kogan, Martha Lavey, Randall Newsome, Kathy Scambiettera 
Produced by Oscar Bucher, Willem Dafoe, Barry Gifford, Dan Simon 
77 mins

Film Showings: Sunday (Feb 4) at Metro 4 Theatre at 8:00 a.m.

We Are Galapagos

WE ARE GALAPOGOS offers an intimate look at a woman who cleans in the hotels in the islands. Through her life, the film brings into focus the lives of the 25,000 people who live in the Galapagos Islands, and how what they do in their everyday lives protects the region and the species that live there — human, animal and inanimate.

Directed by Kum-Kum Bhavnani
Written by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Carly Lambert
Produced by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Leslie Sweem Bhutani, John Foran
55 min

Film Showings: Tuesday (Feb 6) at Fiesta 5 Theatre at 7:00 p.m. & Wednesday (Feb 7) at Fiesta 5 Theatre at 4:00 p.m.

Closing Night – Santa Barbara Documentary Shorts

This year’s Closing Night Film will highlight a diverse and impressive line-up of documentary shorts – each making their World Premiere at the Arlington Theatre on Saturday, February 10th at 8:00pm. The lineup features local Santa Barbara filmmakers:

• Chris Price and Casey McGarry’s CASCARÓN – Meet three Mexican-American families in Santa Barbara who carry on the folk-art tradition of making cascarones (confetti eggs) for Fiesta.

• Ryan Slattery’s CROSSING THE CHANNEL – With no wetsuit, no breaks, or physical support, Rachel Horn swims the Santa Barbara Channel to help the Special Olympics.

• Hallie Brown’s OUT OF THE ASHES – Beyond picturesque Santa Barbara is the looming threat of an insatiable blaze, poised to devour all that lies in its path.

• Justin Gunn’s A SOLSTICE IN SANTA BARBARA – Take a trip inside the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade and Festival. 

• John Klein’s SOUL OF THE CITY – Three stories converge: East Beach, Francisco Aguilera, and Francisco’s bid to renew his lease for the East Beach Grill.

• Danielle Cohen’s THE TIPPING POINT – Santa Barbara organizations and scientists fight against the suppression of science to safeguard our planet for generations to come.