Santa Barbara and the Sea (Chris Bell, 2011): USA

Reviewed by Krista Marquez at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Santa Barbara and the Sea (Chris Bell, 2011) is a beautiful and educational documentary about Santa Barbara, California.  Much of the information is gathered from the native Chumash people, historians, scientists, and fishermen. We learn about the relationship between the land, the channel islands, and the sea which lay between.

Filmmakers Chris Bell and Phil Orr properly begin the count of the Santa Barbara Channel history with the 13,ooo year old human bones found on Santa Rosa Island, the regions earliest know acticvity.  He goes on to share what life was like for the Chumash people before the Europeans came and how they traveled in between the islands.  Other such topics include leading historical figures, such as Hollister and Strean’s financial influence on the city in such ways that changed Santa Barbara forever in regards to using the sea as a resource for tourism and developing infrastructure. It is understood, ultimately, that the people who have always had the most intimate relationship with the sea, are those who spend time with it directly: the fisherman.  Artisan fishing had been one of the specialties of Santa Barbara up until the recent years of commercialized fishing and is just one example of how this town continues to adjust to the changing pace if the world today.

If you are a Santa Barbara native or have lived in or around the region, this film will find you in fascination.  Santa Barbara and the Sea is worth your time and its information makes sense to us why so many people are attracted to such a beautiful place in this giant world.  It also encourages us to really consider our realtionship with the environment of the powerfully ceaseless sea.