SBIFF TAKE TWO: HUMANITY WINS

From sustainability to social justice, these are our favorite documentaries steeped in activism.

WORDS Ninette Paloma

The Riviera Theatre is buzzing with Patagonia employees, easily identifiable by their rugged good looks and serious rain gear. Trekking up the hill to rep two films for the festival’s Nature Shorts series, their enthusiasm bounces through the lobby and spills into the crowded theatre. 
Arresting imagery rolls across the screen from one documentary to the next, and when we land on The Green Buffalo, a palpable shift occurs. Unpacking the story of a Lower Sioux Indian community paving the way for industrial hemp construction, director Joel Caldwell leans on a soundtrack of tribal drumming and electronic beats to underscore the sustainability revolution pulsating through rural Minnesota. Then there’s the uplifting story itself: a resilient collective uses modest resources to grow and process a biogenic material called hempcrete; the non-toxic, carbon-negative hempcrete is used to construct affordable housing on the reservation; an outreach program is launched to encourage other tribes to join the charge. Through plain speak and earnestness from the narrative perspectives of tribal members Danny Desjarlais and Grace Goldtooth, the film galvanizes its audience – resulting in a thoroughly engaging Q & A session with Caldwell and Desjarlais at screening’s end.
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The second half of the festival swirled around films of equal social urgency: Errol Morris’s heart-wrenching Separation about the Trump administration’s efforts to separate over 4,000 immigrant children from their families, featuring an explosive testimonial from Jonathan White of the Office of Refugee Resettlement; Vincent DeLuca’s hopeful and complementary Desert Angel, highlighting Rafael and Monica Larraenza’s humanitarian organization Angeles del Desierto and their daily search and rescue missions along the southern border; Rosanna Xia and Daniel Straub’s exposé on the half a million tons of toxic waste secretly dumped off the coast of Catalina Island in Out of Plain Sight; and Rachel Feldman’s Lilly about the Alabama woman who brought the equal pay fight against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. all the way up to the Supreme Court, ultimately leading to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. 

Even celebrity honorees flexed their activism, with Sebastian Stan urging Americans to remain diligent and informed over the “billionaires infiltrating all aspects of our government, blatantly informing policies to their favor” at the Virtuosos Awards, and Outstanding Performer of the Year recipient Ralph Fiennes’s poignant portrayal of a British spy ensnarled in the Anglo-American led coup of 1950s Iran in Taghi Amirani’s Coup 53. 
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When Saturday arrived and the SBIFF award recipients were announced in a morning ceremony, it was hardly a surprise that four of these films had taken home honors: The Green Buffalo snagged Best Documentary Short; the Social Justice Award went to Separated; Lilly received the ADL Stand Up Award; and the Audience Choice Award was presented to Out of Plain Sight. In fact, 6 of the 11 winning films shared unapologetic themes of humanitarian responsibility, illuminating this year’s festival in the warm and insisting light of courage. 
It was SBIFF’s final day of programming, and a clear and steady call to action was reverberating through the theatres – here’s hoping all of Santa Barbara heard it.