Santa Barbara Surf Film Festival
Saturday, September 27, 2025 at TBD
Lobero Theatre Celebrating 5 years of
SURF x FILM x ART x COMMUNITY
The Santa Barbara Surf Film Festival is the ultimate celebration of surf culture and Santa Barbara’s rich surf history. The festival started in 2019 with the idea to combine the love of cinema, ocean conservation, and community. In 2025, the two-day festival features film screenings at the historic Lobero Theatre, music, art in multiple mediums, local charities, and sponsor activations. Films screened at SBSFF include shorts, new independent films, documentaries, and international films with in-person dialogue with the filmmakers. Music acts range from local musicians to headlining artists. The festival also includes pre and post festival events, as well as a grom program. Our youth program gives local up-and-coming surfers a platform to screen their surfing highlights. Aligning with our mission to protect the ocean, a portion of the festivals proceeds are given to our local non-profit organizations.
Friday Line Up
Run Time: 10 mins
Filmmaker: Hunter Martinez
Synopsis: “This film “17 @ 20,” is a short visual piece documenting one of the bigger west swells that hit Ventura recently. It’s rare to see such a powerful long period swell of this size come in and the view of the hills looking out into the channel were baffling. From swell lines out the back, double overhead beach breaks in Oxnard to mysto point breaks in Santa Barbara, the coastline lit up and I tried my best to document all of it.” – Hunter Martinez
Title: Before the Flight
Run Time: 14 mins
Filmmaker: Malcolm & Duncan Campbell
Legendary Award: Matt Moore (on stage award)
Run Time: 20 mins
Synopsis: Santa Barbara local surf craft innovator Matt Moore will be awarded the Santa Barbara Surf Film Festival 2025 Legendary Award for his contributions to surf culture.
Panel: Speakers for “The Shape of Things: The Dick Brewer Story” (on stage)
Run Time: approx 20-30 mins
Title: The Shape of Things: The Dick Brewer Story
Run Time: 59 mins.
Filmmaker: Bob Campi
Synopsis: “The Shape Of Things: The Dick Brewer Story” is a masterful documentary chronicling surfing’s Da Vinci of design – Dick Brewer. The film chronicles the brilliant mind of a young man being nationally recognized for his award-winning model airplane designs as a teenager, to his engineering innovations that inspired six decades of Surfboard designs in Hawaii, California, and eventually the rest of the world. The film highlights years of Brewer’s career and with it his significant contributions to Surfing History through the Hollywood notoriety of the sport in the 60s, to the short board revolution and guns designs of the 70s, which quickly elevating him to the top of the pyramid. Then, in the early 90s, his final contribution was the invention of the Tow Board, a design innovation that raised the bar of big wave surfing beyond the scope of what was ever envisioned possible. The Shape Of Things is a monumental tribute to a man whose revolutionary, artistic and intellectual perseverance literally changed the sport forever not once – but three different times.
Saturday Line Up coming soon!
Gallery
