NatureTrack Film Festival (NTFF) will be returning for its fifth year with new co-directors, the addition of a development director, and a new location, Metropolitan’s Fairview Theatre in Goleta. Festival dates are Oct. 6-8.
Curated with a focus on nature and outdoor-related films, the festival’s tagline is Igniting Passion for Nature Through Film.
The program will include both feature-length and short films in a variety of genres and subjects including documentary, narrative, animation, experimental, conservation, outdoors adventure, and student films.
An open call is on now for submissions to the in-person nature-centric film festival. Film submission applications are on FilmFreeway. Early deadline is March 5, and submissions will stay open until the last deadline of June 30.
“Environmental concerns are in the forefront of our community’s collective conscience, and I believe this festival will further inform all those interested in the natural world about other people who are doing great things around the world,” said Sue Eisaguirre, founder/executive director of NatureTrack Foundation.
“The films will also excite attendees to get outdoors, connect with the natural world and enjoy the elixirs nature offers,” she said.
In addition to the three-day festival in Goleta, NTFF will screen the award-winning films in Los Olivos, where the festival began, for a one-day Best of the Fest event the following weekend. The Los Olivos location has not yet been announced.
Leading the emerging film festival are its new directors Mitchka Saberi and Francisco Lopez. They both graduated from UCSB where Eisaguirre connected with them through Film & Media Studies professor Chris Jenkins.
The team collaborated on a short documentary “The Accessible Outdoors,” co-produced by NatureTrack, and the 15-minute film made the rounds to film festivals in 2022 picking up several awards.
“As filmmakers ourselves, we were very excited to be invited to become the new Festival Directors for NTFF,” Saberi and Lopez said. “We hope we can curate a selection of films which will open up audiences’ definition of what a nature film can be and put on an event that becomes a staple for the Goleta community as well as for filmmakers from around the world.”
Joining them is Gareth Kelly, the new development director, who has collaborated with Lopez and Saberi in the past on several film projects as a producer. All three said they are looking forward to bringing the film festival to the Goleta and Santa Barbara communities.
For more about ways to get involved, upcoming ticket and pass sales, and submissions, visit naturetrackfilmfestival.org.
For more on NatureTrack Film Festival, e-mail mitchka@naturetrackfilmfestival.org or francisco@naturetrackfilmfestival.org or call 805-886-2047.