Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013 World Premieres

A Year in Burgundy (USA)

Directed by David Kennard
Cast: Martine Saunier
This documentary follows half a dozen wine makers in the Burgundy region of France for one full year, where the beautiful and traditional processes are revealed.

Blumenthal (USA)

Directed by Seth Fisher
Cast: Seth Fisher, Brian Cox, Fred Melamed, Laila Robins, Mark Blum, Mei Melancon
Celebrated playwright, Harold Blumenthal, has passed away after succumbing to cardiac arrest while laughing at his own joke. Now, Harold’s estranged and jealous brother, Saul, must confront his personal hang-ups in order to deliver himself from an epic bout of constipation.

Crosstown (USA)

Directed by Miriam Kruishoop
Cast: Manny Perez, Vivica A. Fox, Will Green, Noel Gugliemi, Paige Hurd
The promise of a better life is shattered when two families are confronted with the brutal reality of raising their children in Los Angeles. An undocumented immigrant family from El Salvador is forced to sign their 17 year-old son’s life away to the U.S. Military with the false promise of naturalization papers. The other family struggles to prevent a forbidden love affair between their Black teenage daughter and a recently initiated member of the local Salvadoran street gang.

Discovering Mavericks (USA)

Directed by Joshua Pomer
Director Josh Pomer captures insider interviews and more than three decades of images and footage to tell the true story of California’s most famous, and notorious, big wave.

Driftwood (USA)

Directed by Peter Trow, Jim Brewer
Cast: Shaun Tomson, Matt Becker, Genelle Ives, Joe Rowan, Sam George, Noah Yap, Ammy Naff, Jim Brewer
Narrated by surf legend Shaun Tomson, this beautiful and meditative stand-up paddle board excursion takes Sam George, Noah Yap, Ammy Naff and Jim Brewer through locations including Sri Lanka, Iceland, Colombia, USA, and Nova Scotia.

El Milagro (Spain)

Directed by Salomón Shang
A Spanish film crew attempts to expose Peru’s El Milagro, where many children are forced to work in the local landfill amidst horrible health and environmental conditions.

Isolated (USA/UK)

Directed by Justin Le Pera
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Travis Potter
Five world class surfers travel to the journalist dead zone of New Guinea in search of undiscovered waves and find more than they bargained for.

It’s Better to Jump (USA/Israel)

Directed by Gina Angelone, Mouna B. Stewart, Patrick A. Stewart
It’s Better to Jump” is a feature-length documentary film that gives voice to the people of the ancient walled city of Akka as they and their city face a very uncertain future.

Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real (UK)

Discovery Channel and NHK have joined forces to undertake the most ambitious search ever mounted to find the greatest mystery of the deep, the giant squid. With razor-toothed suckers and eyes the size of dinner plates, tales of the creature have been around since ancient times. The Norse legend of the sea monster the Kraken and the Scylla from Greek mythology might have derived from the giant squid. This massive predator has always been shrouded in secrecy, and every attempt to capture a live giant squid on camera in its natural habitat, considered by many to be the Holy Grail of natural history filmmaking, has failed. Until now.

Occupy the Movie (Canada)

Directed by Corey Ogilvie
Featuring: Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Tim Pool
This film sheds a light on a movement known as Occupy who stands against corporate greed. Beginning in 2011, it has quickly become the largest movement since those of the civil rights protests.

Retreat (Canada)

Directed by David Cherniack
Cast: Alan Wallace
A documentary that follows the trials and tribulations of thirty-five Westerners as they go through an intense eight-week meditation retreat in Thailand led by Alan Wallace.

Sex After Kids (Canada)

Directed by Jeremy Lalonde
Cast: Paul Amos, Shannon Beckner, Katie Boland, Kristin Booth, Jay Brazeau
An edgy ensemble comedy about the sexual exploits couples share in the aftermath of children.

Stable Life (USA)

Directed by Sara MacPherson
A high-stakes documentary about family, immigration and the hardscrabble world of horse racing

The Signal Hill Speed Run

Directed by Jon Carnoy, Michael Horelick
Featuring: Ben Harper (narrator)
Narrator Ben Harper explores the history of the world’s first skateboard contest and the subsequent evolution of the daredevil speed run in the small So Cal burg of Signal Hill.