When it comes to film festival action in Santa Barbara, the long-looming powerhouse event is the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), leaning toward its 40th anniversary early next year. But Santa Barbara's status as a film town also extends to humble but passionate specialty festivals. Consider the Jewish Film Festival, this weekend’s NatureTrack Film Festival (see story here ), and the humble but hopeful upstart Santa Barbara Indie Film Festival — a very different kind of an SBIFF acronym.
Launched by founder/director and filmmaker Dave Haws a year ago, the second annual edition unveiled its full two-and-a-half-day program last weekend at the suitably intimate and historical Alhecama Theater. The slate of features, documentaries, and a bevy of short films kicked off on Friday night with Robert Redfield's inspiring and carefully crafted documentary feature More than Just a Party Band. The screening found the film returning to the scene of an earlier run in this space, with the added appeal of a solo set by star/subject Spencer Barnitz himself.
Sneaking over to the festival in the cracks of a busy weekend, I was able to take in a good sampling of the festival fare and was duly impressed. Aloura Melissa Charles's short film Under is a polished, well-acted, and emotionally loaded piece that manages to persuasively juggle themes of postpartum depression and human trafficking.