‘WWW’ on the World Wide Web

Whales Without Walls, which screened at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival this past winter, is essentially a five-minute argument for a modern real-life solution to the issues that were addressed in the fiction film Free Willy. The mission of the Whale Sanctuary Project is to establish a model seaside sanctuary where whales and dolphins currently in captivity can live in an environment that maximizes well-being and autonomy and is as close as possible to their natural habitat while still keeping the animals – most of whom were born in captivity – in a safe space.

Charles Vinick, the executive director of the Santa Barbara-based sanctuary project, is the guest for the next installment of SBIFF Film Talk, which pairs local directors and filmmakers with festival programmers to talk about their work after viewers have a chance to watch the short films online at home. Vinick talks about the proposed sanctuary to provide respect and autonomy for the captive cetaceans in an environment where they can thrive with programmer Mickey Duzdevich at 6 pm on Thursday, September 3. Visit sbiff.org for the viewing link and to register for the discussion.